We tell you who Søren Kierkegaard was and what his contributions to philosophy were. In addition, we tell you about his life, his work and the reception of his thought.
Kierkegaard is considered one of the antecedents of existentialism.
Who was Søren Kierkegaard?
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a 19th-century Danish philosopher and theologian, known today as the father of existentialism.
Kierkegaard’s thought focused on the notions of existence, freedom, responsibility, despair and anguish. His ideas were developed by philosophers such as Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), who considered Kierkegaard to be a direct antecedent of the existentialist movement of the 20th century.
The most representative works of Kierkegaard’s philosophy are Either one or the other (1843), Fear and trembling (1843), The concept of anxiety (1844) and Treatise on despair (1849). All of them were published under different pseudonyms, such as Victor Eremita, Johannes de Silentio, Vigilius Haufniensis and Anti-Climacus.
Existentialism is a philosophical movement of the 20th century that maintains that one exists first and then acquires an essence, since the latter is a construction and not something determined. The existentialists were inspired by many of Kierkegaard’s ideas to develop their concepts.
Life of Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard was born on May 5, 1813 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He came from a well-to-do family; his father, Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard, was a successful merchant, and his mother, Anne Sørensdatter Lund, was a devout religious woman. Both exerted a notable influence on Kierkegaard’s work, especially in relation to religious matters and in works such as Fear and trembling.
Between 1821 and 1830 Kierkegaard attended the School of Civic Virtue, where he studied Latin and history. In 1830, he began studying theology at the University of Copenhagen, where he was noted for his intellectual acumen and literary abilities. In 1838, the same year his father died, he obtained his degree in theology, but his main interest leaned towards philosophy. During his student years, he established friendships with leading figures of the day, such as the theologian Hans L. Martensen (1808–1884) and the philosopher Poul Martin Møller (1794–1838).
In 1841, Kierkegaard became engaged to Regina Olsen, a young Danish woman with whom he had a turbulent relationship that influenced much of his work. However, that same year, she called off the engagement, which caused him a deep emotional and spiritual crisis.
Throughout his life, Kierkegaard wrote on philosophical, religious, and existential themes. His most notable works include Either one or the other (1843), Fear and trembling (1843) and The deadly disease (1849), in which he developed his ideas on anxiety, choice, faith and individual existence. His writings were often presented under various pseudonyms.
Søren Kierkegaard died on 11 November 1855 in Copenhagen, at the age of 42. His philosophical and literary legacy has had a significant impact on existentialist philosophy, Christian theology, and the understanding of subjectivity and authenticity in human experience. Although he did not achieve great notoriety during his lifetime, his writings have been widely studied and recognized as a fundamental contribution to 19th-century philosophical thought.
Thought of Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard was one of the most influential philosophers of the 19th century. He addressed a wide range of themes in his extensive work, with a particular focus on anguish, existence, freedom, responsibility and despair. These concepts reflect his concern with the human condition and the search for meaning and authenticity in life.
- Anguish as an existential conditionKierkegaard argued that anxiety is an inevitable part of human existence, arising from the responsibility of making choices. The individual is faced with a choice between opposing options, which creates existential anxiety. Anxiety arises from the awareness that any choice involves giving up other possibilities, leading the individual to face uncertainty and insecurity.
- Individual existence and subjectivityFor Kierkegaard, each individual is unique and faces the existential task of discovering and realizing his or her authentic self. This task emphasizes the importance of subjectivity and interiority in human life. True self-understanding involves honest introspection and the search for authenticity in decision-making.
- Freedom and personal responsibilityKierkegaard recognizes freedom as an essential characteristic of human nature. However, he emphasizes that freedom entails the responsibility of facing the consequences of the choices made. Authentic freedom implies a committed and responsible choice, assuming responsibility for actions and decisions.
- Despair and its overcomingIn his analysis of despair, Kierkegaard describes a condition in which the individual evades responsibility and seeks refuge in empty projects or superficialities. Overcoming despair involves an honest awareness of one’s situation and an acceptance of personal responsibility. True freedom is found in authenticity and responsible engagement with life.
Thus, through his analysis of these themes, Kierkegaard left a lasting legacy in existentialism and contemporary philosophy. His focus on authenticity and the search for the true self has inspired generations of thinkers to reflect on the human condition and the search for meaning in life.
Works by Søren Kierkegaard
Kierkegaard wrote works that explored themes such as existence, religion, ethics and philosophy of life. Some of the most notable are:
- Either one or the other (1843)It is a work that explores choice and decision-making in human life, and raises questions about existence, faith and ethics.
- Philosophical crumbs (1844)It is a collection of essays that address philosophical and religious themes, and that present some of Kierkegaard’s key ideas, such as the importance of subjectivity and faith.
- Fear and trembling (1843)It is an in-depth analysis of the sacrifice of Isaac in the Bible, where Kierkegaard explores the relationship between faith and ethics, and questions conventional ethics in comparison to religious ethics.
- Or the repetition (1843). It is a work that raises the idea of repetition in human life and the possibility of learning from past mistakes. It also addresses the idea of temporality and individual experience.
- The concept of anxiety (1844)It is a profound exploration of anguish as a fundamental experience of human existence and its relationship to sin, freedom and responsibility.
- The desperate man before the dialectic of love (1844). It is the introduction to Either one or the otherwhere Kierkegaard presents his idea of three spheres of existence: the aesthetic, the ethical and the religious.
- Final and non-scientific postscript to philosophical crumbs (1846)It is an extensive work in which Kierkegaard addresses questions of philosophy, religion and theology, and criticizes Hegelian philosophy.
- The deadly disease / Treatise on despair (1849)It is a profound exploration of anguish and despair in human life, as well as the search for authentic identity and relationship with God.
Reception of Søren Kierkegaard’s work
Kierkegaard’s work had a major impact on 19th and 20th century philosophy, particularly after the 1930s with the rise of the existentialist movement in France. French philosophers and writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) and Albert Camus (1913-1960) found in Kierkegaard’s ideas a profound resonance with the existential themes they themselves would later explore.
Kierkegaard influenced the development of French existentialism by emphasizing angst, individual freedom, responsibility, and the search for authenticity in human life. His philosophy exerted a lasting influence on French intellectual culture and helped lay a foundation for the later flowering of existentialism in 20th-century philosophy and literature.
Furthermore, many contemporary philosophers, such as Emmanuel Lévinas (1906-1995), Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002), Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) and Richard Rorty (1931-2007), took up his thought. Martin Heidegger, a precursor to all of them, incorporated some concepts developed by Kierkegaard into his work, for example, anxiety.
Kierkegaard also had a great impact in other fields outside of philosophy, such as literature. Authors such as Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) and WH Auden (1907-1973) acknowledged their great indebtedness to Kierkegaardian thought.
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References
- Adorno, T.W. (2006). Kierkegaard. Construction of the aesthetic (Vol. 62). Akal Editions.
- Binetti, M.J. (2015). Kierkegaard’s idealism. Iberamerican University.
- Kierkegaard, S. (2000). The Essential Kierkegaard. Princeton University Press.
- Kierkegaard, S. (2022). Fear and trembling. Lindhardt and Ringhof.
- Ramírez, C. (1999). Preparing the return to reality: introduction to five existentialist thinkers: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus, Jaspers. EUNED.