Kierkegaard's ethics and his view on man's personal relation to God

• Main Author: Vines, Gleanson A.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 1994
• Subjects: Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813-1855; Religion and ethics; Existentialism; Man (Christian theology); Applied Ethics; Arts and Humanities; Philosophy
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/12325
• Institution: De La Salle University

Soren Kierkegaard, the man considered to be the first existentialist thinker, found the meaning of his existence. He presented his philosophy in various works. Kierkegaard reflected deeply on the existence of the individual person and how he must live in the context of Christianity. The first part of this paper gives a short background on the life of S.K. and situates the reader in the context of his writings. This part also aims to facilitate the reader's understanding of several factors that led S.K. to develop his position on matters of ethics and religion. The next part deals with Kierkegaard's basic notion of the existential person which is helpful in analyzing his understanding of the human person. The third part deals with what S.K. considered to be the first stage of human existence; that is, the aesthetic stage. In this first stage S.K. points out the very basic nature of our existence and the immediacy of our senses. He also describes what kind of person remains in this stage. After tackling the aesthetic stage of human existence, the fourth part of this paper moves on the second level which S.K. called the ethical stage. Part four presents how and why a person should leap from aesthetic stage. S.K. gives emphasis to the importance of decision and commitment in one's life. The last part of this paper deals with the highest stage of human existence in which man arrives at the standpoint where he can affirm his relation to God. This last part focuses its attention on the value of faith as the sole means to attain the fulfilment which one is craving in life. S.K. uses the story of Abraham taking into account whether Abraham is justified or not in his attempt to sacrifice his son Isaac and how this case is related to the realm of morality. This paper aims to uncover how S.K. regard ethics and how ethical conduct is related to the life of faith of the believer. The only way to present this topic is to tackle Kierkegaard's stages of human existence, namely: the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious. It is true that there are many ethical theories nowadays, but to what particular moral principle should we adhere? For S.K. it is not only a question of being ethical but also becoming ethical.