By: Vernon Cooper, Section 7
The “Father of existentialism” and author of over 22 books in a short span of a 42 year life Soren Kierkegaard was a man known for many things. He commonly exercised his ideas on the pages of his work and changed the course of philosophy in his life and in death. Famously accredited for, although he never using the term “the leap of faith”, gave way to his philosophy. Faith, and belief. Belief, to Soren, was something that is provable by fact and logic, by proof and evidence. Whereas faith was different. The very act of being faithful was to lack logic and proof of evidence to back your claim. He believed that to be A Christian and healthily follower of your religion one would have to have faith and for faith in a god is none other than the lack of logic and evidence that one even exist. To be a Christian you have to have faith in the unexplainable.
“The proud person always wants to do the right thing, the great thing. But because he wants to do it in his own strength, he is fighting not with man, but with God.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
If Soren was alive today I would like to talk to him about the way that the world has been shaped compared to when he was living and walking on this earth. Mainly the life of a youth, a developing student, a person who is looking to for a career. About how he would’ve felt living in a world that is so controversial. His Philosophy focused more on the decision or the action of the “leap”. In any case this would mean that the person in “the leap” is making a decision with improper lack of rationality and physical evidence to justify the action or decision they are making. Which makes the “leap” a faithful act. My question would be formed much like this. Based on his philosophy and our modern understanding of his message In what way in todays age would humanity be taking a leap of faith? Many things todays seem to be very provable with the help of history and technology alike, so in what way are we currently taking a leap of faith? Our society, here in America, is heavily based on fitting into our generalized social norms while ironically claiming to be individuals. How would someone like Soren think about this, being that he was very misunderstood himself?
“The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss - an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. - is sure to be noticed.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
Below are some video links that I found interesting to listen too to give a lengthy insight to Soren and how he grew to be A man who impacted philosophy.
Sources:
“From the Aesthetic to the Leap of Faith: Søren Kierkegaard.” YouTube, 30 Apr. 2018, youtu.be/XYHk_TieMLQ.
Lowrie, Walter, and Joseph Campbell. Concluding Unscientific Postscript. Princeton University Press, 2019.
Roskowski, Matthew. “Absurdity and the Leap of Faith.” MINDS@UW Home, 1 Jan. 1970, minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/66395.
schooloflifechannel. “PHILOSOPHY - Soren Kierkegaard.” YouTube, YouTube, 26 June 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9JCwkx558o.
“Søren Kierkegaard: Religion and the Leap of Faith.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Mar. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=A05gSnlpj24.
Warburton, Nigel. A Little History of Philosophy. Yale University Press, 2012.
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"Belief, to Soren, was something that is provable by fact and logic, by proof and evidence" - odd to call that "belief" rather than knowledge. And odd, from a pragmatist's perspective, to think of belief and faith as BOTH the sorts of mental attitude that are in principle "provable," that is, vindicated through action. Faith is sometimes a leap into the darkness of uncertainty, but when we survive our leap we're in a new position of knowledge as to pragmatic value of the beliefs and the faith that motivated the leap. That at least is how a pragmatist would think about it. Kierkegaard evidently was not a pragmatist, even though pragmatists and existentialists (SK was a precursor of ex'sm) have quite a lot in common.
ReplyDeleteFor all his talk about anguish, fear and trembling etc., he had a pretty stable daily routine. He was a peripatetic. (See the quote about that in my comment to Joshua below.)