Kierkegaard Flashcards
What type of philosopher is he?
Extentialististic philospher, a christian existentialist
Existence is…
absurd, always paradoxical, falls outside the system so it is always non-systematic (our existence is contradictory)
What solution does he come up with to answer we do not only derive meaning from the past, “What about the now, what about the future?
(4pts)
-Logos is reasonable and systematic
- Pseudonyms- detaching the author from the language (detaching his discourse from himself)
- Irony- not saying what you mean and not meaning what you say
- Not using argument forms/structure
What does he mean by salvation?
(3pts)
-He wants to destabilize you in order to save yourself, salvation
-This salvation involves making a decision, a leap of faith
-His goal is salvation
What happens if we refuse the systematic narrative of history and of getting better all the time?
We are just left with time and an endless series of instances, moments. There is no closure, no end to the story. Time is just an endless, boring repetition of instance
What is the first stage of existence? What is the problem with this stage?
(5pt)
Aesthetic stage of existence:
-Receiving pleasure through the senses
-The sensual stage of existence- sensual ecstasy
-Looking for moments of ecstasy in the instant
-Moments of ecstatic love, romance, smoking, gambling, anything that allows you to escape the boring temporality of everyday by seeking ecstatic instance in the instant
-It doesn’t last, it is in the instant, it become repetition
What is the second stage of existence?
(7pts)
The moral/Hegelian stage:
-The stage where we find meaning
-Its time to settle down
-Trying to make sense of temporality in a historical way
-Where we become Hegelian; become a good citizen, get involved in the community in order to find meaning
-He wants us to make “the” decision and take a moment of decisiveness which is when we just stop thinking and just jump
Ex- going to church or get a job, get married
Ex- jumping into the water. Instead of thinking “oh its cold” or oh its deep” just say what the heck and jump in
What is the third stage of existence?
(4pts)
The religious stage:
-It means progressing from the first two stages
-Taking a leap of faith
-embracing a belief in something that you may not be able to prove to others
-Ironical stage because it actually takes place in the instant , this stage is out of time, it is eternity in the instant
Basically what does he want us to realize?
-We should just take a leap of faith and go for it
-Ultimately, if there is meaning in the world, we are responsible for creating that meaning
