Paul Strathern

Kierkegaard: Philosophy in an Hour

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Philosophy for busy people. Read a succinct account of the philosophy of Kierkegaard in just one hour.
Although Kierkegaard was not a philosopher in the academic sense, he produced what many people expect of philosophy. He didn’t write about the world, he wrote about life – how we live and how we choose to live, particularly focussing on the individual and the notion of his (or her) existence. Kierkegaard was one of the founders of existentialism, regarding the ‘existing being’ as a purely subjective entity that lay beyond the reach of reason, logic, philosophical systems, theology and even ‘the pretences of psychology’, yet simultaneously remaining the source of all these subjects.
Here is a concise, expert account of Kierkegaard’s life and philosophical ideas – entertainingly written and easy to understand. Also included are selections from Kierkegaard’s work, suggested further reading, and chronologies that place Kierkegaard in the context of the broader scheme of philosophy.
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56 printed pages
Publication year
2012
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Quotes

  • Joost Kloosterhas quoted5 years ago
    Objective truth, such as the truths of history and science, are related to the external world. They can be confirmed by reference to outer criteria. In other words, objective truth depends upon what is said. Subjective truth, on the other hand, depends upon how a thing is said.
  • Joost Kloosterhas quoted5 years ago
    But Kierkegaard makes his basic distinction between the aesthetic and the ethical clear enough. One is ‘outer’, contingent, inconsistent, and self-dissipating; the other is ‘inner’, necessary, consistent, and self-creating. This is convincing, apart from one basic flaw. We can never live an exclusively ethical life – there will always necessarily be an element of the ‘outer’ and accidental about our lives
  • Joost Kloosterhas quoted5 years ago
    Here we see the categorical difference between the aesthetic and the ethical: the former is concerned with the outer world, the latter with the inner. The ethical individual seeks to know himself and tries to turn himself into something better – he aims at becoming an ‘ideal self’. Precisely why he should choose to do this is unclear, unless we accept that in getting to know himself he is bound to become enlightened and thus wish to aim for a ‘higher’ life involving a set of ethical standards.

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