Philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard

What did Kierkegaard believe was lacking in the religious experience of his time?

What was Kierkegaard's view on the relationship between an individual and God?

What did Kierkegaard contend was the nature of truth?

Why did Kierkegaard reject Hegel's philosophy?

What did Kierkegaard believe was the ultimate state of being?

How did Kierkegaard believe spiritual truth should be approached?

What is the nature of believing in God according to Kierkegaard?

How did Kierkegaard think the Bible should be read?

What is the commonality between the meaning of the Bible and a love letter?

According to Kierkegaard's stage theory, what is the primary characteristic of people in the aesthetic stage?

What is the primary difference between the ethical and religious stages?

What is the ultimate outcome of living in the aesthetic stage?

What is the primary characteristic of people in the religious stage?

What is the relationship between truth and personal experience according to the passage?

What is the role of established moral laws and conventions in the ethical stage?

What is the primary difference between the aesthetic and ethical stages?

Kierkegaard believed that religion had become too rational and mechanical, and that a relationship with God should be an intensely personal and emotional experience.
He contended that truth is subjectivity, and taking the existence of God on faith makes God a living truth for a person.

Kierkegaard rejected the state's control and promotion of Lutheranism, as he believed it discouraged the individual nature of the religious experience.
He also rejected Hegel's philosophy, which he thought placed too much emphasis on the logical and rational side of human experience and not enough on the emotional side.

Kierkegaard believed that spiritual truth cannot be taught by logical argument, but must be experienced.
He thought that the more logical we are in our attempt to understand God, the less we comprehend him.
Believing in God is a "leap of faith," a choosing to believe in the absence of any factual, objective information.
God, who is unlimited and eternal, cannot be explained, understood, or proved logically, and must be taken on faith.

Kierkegaard proposed a stage theory of personal freedom, consisting of the aesthetic, ethical, and religious stages.
The aesthetic stage is characterized by hedonism and a lack of recognition of one's ability to choose.
The ethical stage is marked by acceptance of responsibility and the use of external ethical principles as a guide.
The religious stage is the highest level of existence, where people recognize and accept their responsibility and enter into a unique and personal relationship with God.
People existing on the religious level are open to possibilities in life that often run contrary to what is generally accepted.