1. Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Christopher Moore, Christina Faglier, Kendell Carder, Jordan Harada, and Haley Kuller

2. Biographical Info  Born May 5, 1813 in CopenHagen  Considered 1st existentialist philosopher  When his father died he was left with just his brother  He attended Copenhagen University  He got his masters in theology in 1841  He did not want to be a philosopher nor to preach Christianity  One major influence on his writing was his broken engagement to Regine Olsen  He wrote most of his books under pen names  Died November 11, 1855  His books did not become popular until after he died

3. Spiritual History and Point-of-View ❖ Søren Kierkegaard was a devout Christian and a deeply religious writer. ❖ Most of Kierkegaard’s works explores some of the popular stories of the Bible and his own personal experience of Christianity. ❖ His Christianity is centered around faith. ❖ According to Kierkegaard, the bible is filled with paradoxes. ❖ He started an attack on the Danish Christian Church due to teachings and governance.

4. Spiritual History and Point-of-View  Kierkegaard believed that a person should take a “leap into faith” without thinking about even though there was no proof or reason.  Strong believer that education should religious and devoted developing one’s relationship with God.  Opposed vocational and technical school because he believed that they lead people away from Christian beliefs. ❖ He knew that his faith had no proof or reason but, according to him, reason and proof has no place in faith.

5. Existential/Aesthetic Point-of-View Kierkegaard believed boredom, anxiety, and despair are the human psyche’s major problems, and spent most of his writing diagnosing these three ills. ❏ The aesthetic is the realm of sensory experience and pleasures. The aesthetic life is defined by pleasures, and to live the aesthetic life to the fullest one must seek to maximize those pleasures. Increasing one’s aesthetic pleasures is one way to combat boredom, and Kierkegaard described many methods of doing so. ❏ The aesthetic life must be subordinated to the ethical life, as the ethical life is based on a consistent, coherent set of rules established for the good of society. A person can still experience pleasure while living the ethical life. The ethical life serves the purpose of allowing diverse people to coexist in harmony and causes individuals to act for the good of society. ❏ In the aesthetic life, one is ruled by passion. In the ethical life, one is ruled by societal regulations. In the religious life, one is ruled by total faith in God. One can never be truly free, and this causes boredom, anxiety, and despair. True faith doesn’t lead to freedom, but it relieves the psychological effects of human existence.

6. Ethical Point-of-View ❖ Good and evil is dependent on God not social norms ❖ Duties are to a higher power (God) ❖ Obedience is not straightforward (willingly or begrudgingly) ❖ God does not create human morality, but any command from God takes precedence over any moral or rational obligation ❖ In Either/Or Kierkegaard states that ethics get in the way of the enjoyment of life, if taken to extremes ❖ Always points to a religious goal ❖ Be whatever you want, but your soul belongs to God, not the world

7. Influence of other Philosophers  Some of Kierkegaard’s closest philosophical models are  Plato  J.G. Hamann  G.E Lessing  He attended the University of Copenhagen where his philosophy teacher was Paul Martin Moller  Goethe, the German Romantics, Hegel, Kant are also important influences  He also used the logic of Adolf Trendelenburg as an influence  His main theological influence is Martin Luther