Soren Kierkegaard: Subjective truth and the origins of existentialism

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Soren Kierkegaard : Subjective truth and the origins of existentialism

Soren Kierkegaard (15th May , 1813-1855 ) was a Danish religious thinker cum philosopher who is ascribed as the father of modern existentialism from his basic approach of explaining the indubitable truth as the subjective truth . He was a very influential 19th century theologian and he has had profound influence on modern philosophy and theology . His approach was concerned at searching truth through sacrifice of everything by an individual in personal /individual relationship with God in

to arrive at this subjective truth . He ardently used the Biblical Abraham example of willingly adhering to God 's call to slaughter his only son as a fulfillment of God 's will which supersedes everything else

It is often told that his philosophy (fundamentally based on religiosity ) is somehow no cosmic , mystic , and very indifferent ethically to the human world . This is because it was only concerned with inward reality or subjectivity which cannot impinge on reality or inwardness of anything else apart from that found in the isolated individual . He believed that truth is identical with subjectivity and inwardness , and this ethic has been criticized by many as arbitrary and lacking in reason and as such one that cannot claim any connection to the central philosophical concern . Kierkegaard was strongly influenced by the Lutheran guilt-ridden piety religion as well as the Hegelian philosophy during his studies at the University of Copenhagen . This was mainly because the Hegelian...