For many, the mention of Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) brings to mind a Danish thinker faintly recalled from dim memories of an introductory philosophy class. For others, the name is immediately associated with existentialism and phrases such as "subjectivity as truth" and "leap of faith."
Few philosophers have gained more fame for positions they seldom embraced than Kierkegaard. In the history of philosophy, he has been portrayed as an anti-Hegelian, the "father of existentialism" and the precursor of deconstruction.
Even today, many interpreters limit their readings of Kierkegaard to his perceived antipathy to Georg W.F. Hegel, the German philosopher who constructed a complex, sometimes torturous philosophical system that declared that truth could be reached only by using reason and objectivity. His writings seemed distant, abstract and removed from the real world. Kierkegaard, by contrast, proclaimed that each person was engaged in an individual quest for truth in the stages along life's way. While their approaches to truth indeed differ substantially, Kierkegaard never thought of himself as an anti-Hegelian, and he praised some of Hegel's readings as much as he criticized others. The real difference between the two is Kierkegaard's lively, poetic writing style as against Hegel's more formal, turgid style.
In the middle of the 20th century, the existentialists Sartre and Camus embraced Kierkegaard as one of their own.Near the dawn of the 21st century, Jacques Derrida and some deconstructionists have, in turn, claimed Kierkegaard as their darling...more here
No comments:
Post a Comment