The Danse Macabre (or Dance of Death) is a late medieval motif that illustrates the universality of death. The constant famines, wars, and especially the Black Death in Europe showed how fragile and fleeting life truly was. Death was not a distant fate but a sudden, ever-present companion. This grim reality intensified the religious desireContinue reading “The Fool Dances with Death”
Category Archives: Kierkegaard
KIERKEGAARD: The Knight of Faith
The knight of faith is one of Kierkegaard’s most important concepts, which he discusses in Fear and Trembling in the “Preamble from the Heart”, written under the pseudonym Johannes de silentio. There are three spheres of existence in Kierkegaard’s philosophy: the aesthetic, the ethical and the religious. In Fear and Trembling he analyses the contradictionsContinue reading “KIERKEGAARD: The Knight of Faith”
KIERKEGAARD: How To Avoid Boredom and Maximise Happiness
Most of us strive for happiness in life, whether it be by seeking it directly through pleasures or by seeking it indirectly doing one’s duty, or a combination of both. In the first part of Either/Or, containing the papers of an anonymous aesthete, Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard dedicates a chapter on the problem of boredomContinue reading “KIERKEGAARD: How To Avoid Boredom and Maximise Happiness”
Book Review: The Present Age – Søren Kierkegaard
“There is no more action or decision in our day than there is perilous delight in swimming in shallow waters.” In “The Present Age”, Søren Kierkegaard discusses the philosophical implications of a society dominated by mass media, foreseeing the rise of twenty-four hour news and social media, it examines the philosophical implications of a cultureContinue reading “Book Review: The Present Age – Søren Kierkegaard”
Book Review: Either/Or – Søren Kierkegaard
Either/Or: A Fragment of Life was published by Søren Kierkegaard in 1843, making it his first major work. The book was written under the pseudonym Victor Eremita “Victorious Hermit”. In the preface, Victor Eremita tells us that he has found two papers in an old desk. They express the viewpoints of two distinct figures withContinue reading “Book Review: Either/Or – Søren Kierkegaard”
Book Review: Fear and Trembling – Kierkegaard
Fear and Trembling is a book by Søren Kierkegaard written under the pseudonym Johannes de silentio. Kierkegaard is famous for having multiple pseudonyms. The purpose of this is not to confuse the reader, but rather to make him come up with his own conclusions. The subtitle of the book is Dialectical Lyric. That is toContinue reading “Book Review: Fear and Trembling – Kierkegaard”
Kierkegaard and Nietzsche – Giants of Existentialism
Kierkegaard and Nietzsche provided the basic foundations of 19th century Existentialism. It is a philosophy that emphasises the existence of the individual as a free and responsible agent determining their own development. We all suffer and enjoy the same condition, the human condition, and have done so since time immemorial. Kierkegaard is commonly regarded asContinue reading “Kierkegaard and Nietzsche – Giants of Existentialism”
Book Review: The Sickness unto Death – Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard wrote one of the most remarkable theistic existentialist works of the 19th century, The Sickness unto Death is famed for the depth and acuity of its psychological insights. Writing under the pseudonym Anti-Climacus, Kierkegaard explores the concept of ‘despair’. Despair is a deeper expression for anxiety which is a not-wanting-to-be-oneself. It is aContinue reading “Book Review: The Sickness unto Death – Kierkegaard”
The Absurd – Camus, Kierkegaard & Dostoevsky | Existentialism
Albert Camus’ views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as Absurdism, he defines the Absurd “as the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life, and the human inability to find any meaning in a purposeless, meaningless, and irrational universe, with the ‘unreasonable silence’ of the universe inContinue reading “The Absurd – Camus, Kierkegaard & Dostoevsky | Existentialism”
The Ultimate Truth: Subjectivity – Kierkegaard
The world is absurd, and we must live in it. “As I grew up, I opened my eyes and saw the real world, I began to laugh and I haven’t stopped since”. – Søren Kierkegaard One can try making sense of life by laying a worldview or template on it, but Kierkegaard would guarantee you thatContinue reading “The Ultimate Truth: Subjectivity – Kierkegaard”