Kierkegaard? s Notions Of Risk, Faith, Passion, & A ; Truth Essay, Research Paper
? ? ? ? Soren
Kierkegaard puts Forth a alone signifier of existential philosophy. He chooses to utilize the
inquiries of subjectiveness, objectiveness, and the hunt for truth, in
existential philosopher thought as a agency for the justification of his religion. Through
this he comes up with one of the purest definitions of what religion truly is.
The inquiry is so ; can he through his treatment of? the paradox of truth?
be susceptible to Nietzschian relativism, given this construct? The decision
is that it is non ; Kierkegaard? s definition requires a passionate belief in
something. One can non believe that everything is comparative, in true Nietzschian
manner, and keep a passionate belief in a specific something at the same clip. ? ? ? ? ? The
Paradox of Truth? is one of the base constructs in Kierkegaard? s theoretical
model and is nucleus to his constructs of religion and hazard. ? A paradox consequences
from the relationship between the eternal ( the indispensable truth ) and the
bing individual. ? [ 1 ]
This is expanded to? The Ultimate paradox is: That the ageless truth has come
into being in clip, ( the space has become finite ) . To believe this paradox
( the Absurd ) is to be in the highest province of truth. Christianity has declared
itself to be the ageless indispensable truth which has come onto being in clip ; it
has proclaimed itself as the paradox, and it has required of the person the
kernel of religion with regard to the absurd. ? [ 2 ] To foster
understand what Kierkegaard is stating when it comes to his? paradox of truth?
one must understand Kierkegaard? s beliefs, when it comes to the impression of
truth. Kierkegaard seems to believe at the base of things that Truth peers
Passion, or that truth requires passion. For if you are to believe that
something is the truth, you must hold passion in that belief to truly believe
it. Otherwise you do non genuinely believe, you merely believe because the pick
has already been made for you and you believe because you should. Which is non
true belief. True belief comes about when you have made a determination for
yourself, and believe out of your ain misdemeanor, taking to hold faith even in
the face of uncertainness. ? Passionate kernel is the grade of truth even if,
or instead when, the truth is objectively uncertain. ? [ 3 ]
Kierkegaard believes that subjectiveness, kernel, and religions are synonymous
and that their definitions are an look for truth. ? the aim
uncertainness, held fast in an appropriation procedure of the most passionate
kernel is the truth. ? [ 4 ] ? ? ? ? The
type of uncertainness that Kierkegaard talks about my be less obvious when
sing, twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours truths, but we must retrieve that Kierkegaard is most
concerned with his definitions of truth and religion as they relate to him and his
relationship with God. Kierkegaard asserts that we should most concern our
egos and our Hunt for truth with inquiries that are close to us, and so he is
concerned with the nature and footing of his religion. This preoccupation with his
religion must be taken into history as the chief paradox when one reads the
following transition about the ageless truth. When the eternal
truth is related to an bing person, truth becomes a paradox. The
paradox repels the single because of the nonsubjective uncertainness and
ignorance towards kernel. But since this paradox in itself is non
self-contradictory, it does non force the spirit far plenty. For without hazard there is
no religion, and the greater the hazard the greater the religion, and the more
nonsubjective dependability, the less inwardness ( for kernel is exactly
subjectiveness ) . Indeed, the less nonsubjective dependability, the deeper becomes the
possible kernel. When the paradox is in itself self-contradictory, it repels the
single by the power of the absurd, and the corresponding passion, which is
produced in the procedure, is faith. [ 5 ] ? ? ? ? It
is through this apprehension of the self-contradictory and its consequence on the
single that we come to understand Kierkegaard? s construct of religion. For
Kierkegaard one of the basal truths of religion is that it requires hazard. If there
is no hazard that what you believe is untrue, that is that it has been proven to
you objectively, through nonsubjective grounds so you have no demand of religion for
you know it is true. ? By its really nature, religion involves hazard, the hazard that
what you are believing is non objectively true. In fact, it is merely after one
recognizes the decease of God, the rational acknowledgment that God does non
exist, that on is free to go truly ethical and existentially self
aware. ? [ 6 ]
That is that when we have admitted to ourselves that based on strictly
rational evidences there is no nonsubjective grounds to state that God exists,
merely one time we have come to the full to the belief that there is perfectly no ground
for us to hold faith in God, it is so when we take the hazard of holding religion
in malice of all
the grounds to the contrary that we truly become ego cognizant.
For it is when we look inward and through our kernel choose to believe and
hold faith in God in malice of the hazards that we truly achieve passionate truth.
? Faith is exactly the contradiction between the infinite passion of
kernel and nonsubjective uncertainness. If I can hold on God objectively, I do non
believe, but because I can non cognize God objectively, I must hold religion, and if I
will continue myself in religion, I must invariably keep fast to the aim
uncertainness, so as to stay out upon the ocean? s deep? and still believe. ? [ 7 ]
Therefore faith by its really nature requires a deficiency of nonsubjective security. To convey
his construct of religion to even clearer, allow? s see the film analogy of religion
presented in Indiana Jones. When Indiana is traveling through all the trials of a
true truster on his manner to happen the Holy Grail he reaches a apparently uncross
able chasm and is merely given the direction that with religion he will be able
to step out and traverse the spread. A spring of religion is required. Now if Indiana
objectively knew when he foremost got to the chasm that there was a span at that place
which blended in with the chasm walls, that he could easy step across on,
so no religion would be required. He does non nevertheless happen out the aim
ground for his religion, until he has taken the hazard and exercised it. Faith merely
exists when there is no nonsubjective grounds. The greatest uncertainness green goodss
the greatest religion. Therefore Kierkegaard states that the Christian religion is the
purest religion, for there is no manner to of all time turn out it objectively and therefore it
gives? rise to the greatest grade of kernel because it is based upon the greatest
grade of uncertainty. ? [ 8 ] ? ? ? ? From
here we must now confront the inquiry as to whether or non Kierkegaard? s impressions
give rise to Nietzschian relativism, given this construct of truth? Nietzsche
provinces that? we should be unfastened to all positions, non merely our own. ? [ 9 ]
So Nietzsche leaves room for Kierkegaard? s theory and allows for him to keep
it, so the two positions are non sole from Nietzsche? s point of position. The
determination to hold religion is comparative to 1s ain pick and free will, something
that Nietzsche tells us to exert at every chance. For harmonizing to
Nietzsche? the moral Earth excessively, is round? [ 10 ]
Does Kierkegaard? s position nevertheless, prevent relativism? The construct would be
yes. Kierkegaard? s positions by their very footing in religion and passion require one
to pick a position and so hold faith in it, in this instance specifically, the position
that God exists, as truth. Nietzsche? s positions require that one semen to the
construct that there is no fixed truth, where as Kierkegaard? s beliefs in the
paradox of truth and the constructs of religion, require that we pick something
to passionately believe in, even if it is non the true religion in God, but the
heathen wisdom that Socrates held. One manner or another the model requires that
one clasp passionate belief and do determinations? finally based on passion and
non on reason. ? [ 11 ] ? If Nietzschian relativism is to go a
job, so one does non hold a passionate belief, and therefore has non
subscribed to the impressions of religion, hazard, and truth as Kierkegaard has outlined
them. For when you are a relativist, so you no longer hold passionate religion,
and if you no longer hold passionate religion so you no longer have truth, for
? passionate kernel is the grade of truth. ? [ 12 ] ? ? ? ? Kierkegaard? s
doctrine has a quality to it that makes it really appealing to a truster,
whether one is a truster in God or something else, it allows person to
warrant their religion in whatever it is they choose to hold faith in, be it God,
Allah, or heathen systems of religion. For harmonizing to Kierkegaard one merely has to
genuinely and passionately believe in something. An ability to believe, given by
few if any other existentialist theoretical models. Kierkegaard? s theory
therefore, gives power to the human head and the potency for happening truth of some
sort, in a existence that most of his colleges were offering no truth for, and
nil to believe in. It is this latent apprehension of the power of passion,
and the given ability to let one to believe in something, or person as a
agencies for happening truth, which prevents Kierkegaard from falling into the trap
of Nietzschian relativism given his construct of truth. Mentions Oaklander, Nathan. ? Existentialist
Doctrine? 2nd Ed. Prentice Hall Inc, NJ, USA. 1996. Wilks, Anna. Handout # 4 Kierkegaard,
? Either/Or. ? Wilks, Anna. Handout # 9 Kierkegaard,
? Reasoning Unscientific Postscript. ? Wilks, Anna. Handout # 7 Nietzsche,
? Selections. ? [ 1 ] Kierkegaard Handout, ? Reasoning
unscientific PS? [ 2 ] Ibid. [ 3 ] Oaklander
P.17. [ 4 ] Oaklander
P.18. [ 5 ] Ibid. P20. [ 6 ] Oaklander
P.18. [ 7 ] Oaklander. Phosphorus
18. [ 8 ] Ibid. P.19. [ 9 ] Handout, # 1
on Nietzche. [ 10 ] Ibid. [ 11 ] Oaklander.
P 19. [ 12 ] Oaklander.
P.17.