ERROL JOHN V. VALDEZ
SOREN A. KIERKEGAARD AS A PHILOSOPHER
The philosophy of Soren A. Kierkegaard has been a major
influence in the development of existentialism and postmodernism of the 20th
century and the development of existential psychology. He was a 19th century Danish
philosopher and the Father of Existentialism.
One of the recurrent themes in his philosophy is the importance of
subjectivity that is related to the way people relate themselves to objective
truths. He argued in his writing
entitled “Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments” that
subjectivity is truth and truth is subjectivity. This means that truth is not just a matter of
discovering objective facts but truth is found in subjectivity (Wikimedia Foundation, 2017).
Kierkegaard’s authorship comprises
different narrative points of views and disciplinary subject matter such as
aesthetic novels, works of psychology and Christian dogmatics, satirical
prefaces, philosophical “scraps” and “postscripts,” literary reviews, edifying
discourses, Christian polemics, and retrospective self-interpretations. His arsenal rhetoric includes irony, satire,
parody, humor, polemic and dialectical method of indirect communication. These
were all designed to deepen the subjective passionate engagement of the reader
with existential issues. He argued that the prime criterion of being in the
truth is how one lives in his life. Aside from being the father of
existentialism, he is best known critic of Hegel and Hegelianism and for his
elaboration of a host of philosophical, psychological, literary and theological
categories that included anxiety, despair, melancholy, repetition, inwardness,
irony, existential stages, inherited sin, teleological suspension of the ethical,
Christian paradox, the absurd, reduplication, universal/exception, sacrifice,
love as a duty, seduction, the demonic, and indirect communication (McDonald, n.d.).
Philosophical Views of
Soren A. Kierkegaard on Subjectivity
Most people are subjective toward themselves and
objective toward all others,
frightfully objective sometimes but the task is
precisely to be objective
toward oneself and subjective toward all others.
(Kierkegaard, AZ Quotes, n.d.)
1)
Subjectivity
turns away from objective realm of facts.
In the introductory part of
the Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard, in the topic about subjectivity
and truth, Kierkegaard contrasted objective thinking and subjective truth. He
argued that subjectivity is not subjectivism that is defined as a belief is
true because one believes it to be true but rather the degree the person lives
within the truth he confesses.
Subjectivity turns away from objective realms of facts means detaching
observation and abstract thinking and immersing oneself in the subjective,
inward activity of discovering truth for oneself. Subjectivity culminates in
faith, an infinite passion that is both rationally uncertain and paradoxical (Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of
Kierkagaard, 2002, p. xxv).
The subjectivity that Kierkegaard
argues refers on how we should look beyond what we believe and what we see in
order for us to know the truth in ourselves.
This means that we should have a Christian faith. To Kierkegaard, faith requires risk, which
certainty detests. This faith means is
to wager everything and to suffer for the truth, despite of the offenses of the
Incarnation and the Cross. Faith
requires us a leap of commitment, a category of decision. This is the decision that one commits totally
to a God whose existence is rationally uncertain and whose redemption is
utterly an offense that makes all proofs for the existence of God and the deity
of Christ fail. People try and prove
the existence of God by means of purely objective. The objective standpoint is completely
backwards. Proofs become unconvincing and irrelevant. To prove God’s existence is to have a
passionate undivided commitment.
Christianity is not a doctrine to be taught but rather a life to live.
God is a spirit and therefore can only be known in a spiritual way, that
subjectively and inwardly. The how one’s
existence is what is decisive. This
shows the importance of commitment – an act of the will that transcends
reason’s requirement (Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkagaard, 2002, pp.
xxv-xxvi.).
Subjectivity is inwardness
and passion. It is a commitment and not
merely the discovery of correctness. It
is the realm where to find special sense of existence. It is living fully, which may not be
outwardly evident. It is living
inwardly, in the depth and richness of one’s feelings. Passions are merely feelings or sensations
but profound insights into the being of whom a person is. Passion is subjective because it can be known
and appreciated only from the inside by the person whose passion it is (Braungardt, 2015).
2)
Truth
becomes personal appropriation in subjective reflection.
In Chapter 15 of the Provocations: Spiritual Writings of
Kierkegaard entitled “Two ways of reflection”, Kierkegaard argued that in
subjective reflection truth becomes personal appropriation that means life or
inwardness. In subjectivity, the truth
can be found within our own selves which is the opposite of objective
reflection that makes truth as an object that disregards individuals. To Kierkegaard, the individual is an existing
self and existing is the process of becoming that makes truth as the identity
of thought Thinking and being are not
one and the same. Truth is concluded to
a person when he is outside himself. To him, true knowing pertains essentially
to existence, to a life of decision and responsibility. Ethical and
ethical-religious knowing is essential knowing.
Truth matters and of significant (Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkagaard, 2002, pp.
58-61).
Kierkegaard gave emphasis that true
inwardness involves passion. Passion is
at its peak for truly existing person and as a subject. Passion is being lost
that will ceases truth when neglecting an existing subject. If truth can be
understandable, the knowing subject shifts from being human to an abstract
thinker, and truth becomes an abstract and understandable object for his
knowing. As long as the person can relate to himself then it is the truth. When a person is asked a question about truth
subjectively, then how the person relates to truth matters (Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkagaard, 2002, pp.
58-61).
Kierkegaard argued further that truth is
about inwardness which is the passion of the infinite that leads to essential
truth. Decisions exist in
subjectivity. Passion of the infinite is
the deciding factor. The subjective how
and subjectivity not the objective what and objectivity, are the truth (Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkagaard, 2002, pp.
58-61).
Kierkegaard argued that in subjectivity the
person relates to God in such a way that this relation is in truth, a
God-relation. God is a subject to be related to. He exists only for subjective
inwardness. This means that to understand God is to move towards God, not by
virtue of objective deliberation, but by virtue of the infinite passion of
inwardness (Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkagaard, 2002, pp.
58-61).
In Kierkegaard’s writing entitled “Upbuilding
Discourses in Various Spirits,” subjectivity comes with consciousness of a
person’s self as a self. It encompasses the emotional and intellectual
resources that the individual is born with. Subjectivity is what the individual
is as a human being (Nordengren, 2012). Now the problem of subjectivity is to
decide how to choose, what rules or models is the individual going to use and
follow to make the right choices, what are the right choices, and who defines
what is right. To be truly an individual and to be true to himself, his actions
should be expressed to describe who and what he is to himself and to others.
The problem is that a person must choose who and what he will be based on
subjective interests—the individual must make choices that will mean something
to him as a reasoning and feeling being (Wikimedia Foundation, 2017).
In Chapter 19 of the Provocations: Spiritual
Writings of Kierkegaard entitled “Passion and Paradox”, Kierkegaard argued on
how we should understand the truth in terms of subjectivity. He argued that truth is an objective
uncertainty that is held through personal appropriation with the passionate
inwardness. He argued that this could be
the highest truth for an existing person (Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkagaard, 2002, p.
70).
Kierkegaard viewed truth as subjectivity when
it is in highest intensity holding fast to more than objective
uncertainty. When subjectivity or
inwardness is truth then truth is objectively defined as the opposite. This
means that if subjectivity is truth, objectivity’s repulsion is the resilience
of inwardness. Without risk there is no faith thus more risk, more faith. This is when there is more objective
reliability then inwardness is lesser, and the less objective reliability the
deeper the possible inwardness.
Subjectivity culminates in passion (Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkagaard, 2002, p.
71).
In Chapter 79 of the Provocations: Spiritual
Writings of Kierkegaard entitled “Inwardness and Subjectivity,” Kierkegaard
argued that Christianity is not the objective but rather the subjective. According to him, the movement that leads
Christianity back to Christ is a movement of inwardness. This movement of inwardness is looking life
as a confession of the state of the inner being. Christianity is essential that requires an
infinite interest in the individual subject. Being subjective means moving away
from being objective or speculative individuals. Moreover, a speculative individual cannot
possibly find what he is seeking. What people is looking for is a Christian
life that could possibly attained by being subjective (Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkagaard, 2002, pp.
320-321).
In Chapter 79 entitled “Inwardness and
Subjectivity” of the Provocations, Kierkegaard argued that a subjective thinker
is always striving and continuously in the process of becoming. As long as the
person is existing, he is in the process of becoming. If a person who constitutes himself by first
determining the outside, his fundamentals are useless that is because he must
know first himself before knowing anything else. This is knowing himself inwardly and
eventually acquire peace and significance in life (Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkagaard, 2002, pp.
321-322).
Subjectivity is personal to an
individual that makes him different and distinct from others. It is what is inside, what the individual can see, feel, think,
imagine, and dream. It is that the individual that no one else has.
Subjectivity can also be viewed as the unique relationship between the subject
and object (Wikimedia
Foundation, 2017).
1)
The truth is an objective uncertainty that held fast through personal
appropriation with the most passionate inwardness.
It is within
a person’s observation can an individual should find the infinite truth and
knowledge. There will be a point where the objectivity of a person changes into
subjective knowledge and further intensifies as passion for inwardness. To
understand and know the truth we should look first into our inner selves before
going out of the objective world.
2)
Faith is the contradiction between the infinite passion of inwardness
and objective uncertainty.
There are
risks in order to achieve inwardness. These risks will lead us to hold into our
faith. One should view God subjectively
because it is a subject not an object.
There should be a subject-to-subject relationship to understand the
existence of God. This understanding is
achieved through our individual faith.
God reveals itself differently to every individual depending on the depth
and strength of its faith. If one viewed God objectively, faith will fades away.
3)
Truth as subjectivity.
How we believe matters
much more than what we
believe, since the "passionate inwardness" of subjective faithfulness
is the only way to deal with our anxiety. Passionate attachment to a profound
falsehood is preferable to detached conviction of the obvious truth. The
existence of God can only be appreciated wholly based on subjective views, thus
mild acceptance of traditional and institutional religion is useless. Subjectivity or inwardness is truth
thus when truth is defined objectively, it will become a contradictory. It is
the resilience and measurement of inwardness. The highest truth for a person is
the personal, passionate, and practical approach to knowledge.
4) Eternal truth has come into
existence in time.
The essential
knowledge relates to existence. This knowledge has a relationship to an
existing individual. A person who sees God objectively only see him in approximated
and estimated process that shows absence of absolute facts to prove the
existence of God. God exists only for subjectivity and inwardness, therefore
God is a subject and not an object.
An existing individual is constantly
in process of becoming. The actual existing subjective thinker constantly
reproduces this existential situation in his thoughts, and translates all his
thinking into terms of process.
5)
Subjectivity
and truth.
“Faith is not a belief but a
certain way of being in the truth that extends beyond reason’s ability to
grasp.”
An individual can grasp what is the
truth and what lies ahead of it through observation and abstract thinking. If
an individual chooses faith, then there are risks, thus a person learns to
detach himself from objectivity and ignites his faith to subjectivity. Faith requires
the decision to leap forward and commit the self to the truth. That is why we
cannot prove the existence of God through objective ways because God is a
spiritual identity and must be known subjectively.
6)
The
Single Individual
Inwardness cannot be achieved
without the individual. One should know the importance to be alone before God-
alone in the sense of being aware with one’s knowledge about God. An individual
is a unified, integrated self, ordered by a single purpose. He must have the
will to do one thing and that it to have a pure heart towards God. With the
inwardness present in an individual’s life, one has the freedom to decide as
long as it is dignified and has the passion towards the truth.
7)
The
Weight of Inwardness
There are lots of truths and
it depends on how one should perceive it. When we believe that truth is the
work of freedom, then there is certainty present. Truth can have positive or
negative consequences. We should acknowledge the flaws. When there are
consequences, fears are present. One good example is the context of
immortality. An individual can provide different truths and thus has proofs -
one of its kind. Despite of achieving this, one will still be lacking. Despite of
all the proofs, a person runs away from the context of immortality and then in
turn deceives himself and others by pretending that proofs are enough. Fear
comes in again. Therefore, certitude and inwardness are not realized.
Certitude comes at the peak of
inwardness. It builds a weight of certainty and a strong relationship towards
the individual. Remember that there is truth in inwardness and to find the
truth is with certitude. Let us try to reconstruct that we should not battle with
the main idea, but with the deep sense that lies in inwardness.
8)
Inwardness
and Subjectivity
An
objective uncertainty held fast in an appropriation process of the most
passionate inwardness is the truth, the highest truth an individual can attain.
It is not so much as what is
believed as it is how it is believed. Truth is an idea
paradoxical for finite reason, requiring both a risk and a "leap of
faith."
Ethical
obligations are sometimes superseded by truths of subjective existence. The difference between objective truth and
subjective truth is the appropriation process of making the paradox one's own.
Thinking about it doesn't get in the way of arrogation.
Three main
characteristics of subjective truth include that it is paradoxical, concrete,
and not universal.
“Subjective truth” is considered to be the central
element in a meaningful life. Inwardness and passion is subjectivity. Passionately committing oneself to what is
chosen is a personal choice. It is the
subjective truth that makes us commit and risk the leap of faith.
As Kierkegaard argued, objectivity should not be
allowed to invade the existential realm, the realm of personal meaning and
significance. To believe that the world is ultimately rational does not give an
answer to the question on how should a person live.
Subjectivity is inwardness and passion and not merely
the discovery of correctness but it is a commitment. It is the realm where we
find our sense of existence by living fully and inwardly towards the depth and
richness of one’s feelings. Passion is profound insight of our own selves, of
about who we really are. Passion can be
appreciated from within ourself
References
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Exploration:
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Daniel, P. (2015, January 19). Kierkegaard: Subjectivity
is Truth. Retrieved June 19, 2017, from With All I Am. Think. Reason. Follow.:
https://withalliamgod.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/kierkegaard-subjectivity-is-truth/
Kierkegaard, S. (2002). Provocations: Spiritual Writings
of Kierkagaard. (C. Moored, Editor) Retrieved June 19, 2017, from
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2017, from https://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=faith+kierkegaard
Kierkegaard, S. (n.d.). Retrieved June 2017, from AZ Quotes:
http://www.azquotes.com/quote/658230
McDonald, W. (n.d.). Søren Kierkegaard (1813—1855).
Retrieved June 2017, from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
http://www.iep.utm.edu/kierkega/
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https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/young-voices/look-kierkegaard-and-his-infinite-passion-inwardness
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