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that1anarchist t1_iw2u1e0 wrote

My man! I don't see enough Kierkegaard stuff, he's my Patron Saint in philosophy

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vestbirkw t1_iw4jdqr wrote

I'm taking an Existentialism class at my university atm and it's quite astonishing how every single philosopher of existence (Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Kafka, Camus, De Beauvoir, etc.) has read Kierkegaard. His influence speaks for itself.

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Halo_LAN_Party_2nite t1_iw5kmn3 wrote

He's so prolific and genius he wrote sermons and essays under multiple pseudonyms. I love Dostoevsky so much, but Kierkegaard is the True Existentialist. Lol.

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str8_rippin123 t1_iw9t30s wrote

I don’t think Nietzsche ever read him.

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vestbirkw t1_iw9tm5n wrote

From what I know he wrote a few letters stating he planned to study Kierkegaard, but I imagine it was fairly limited. Either way I think it's interesting to see how much overlap each had despite operating on opposite ends of the spectrum with respect to religious faith.

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str8_rippin123 t1_iwaispg wrote

Someone who was lecturing on Nietzsche wrote to Nietzsche asking him to meet so that they can read Kierkegaard together, I believe—but then Nietzsche went insane. It’s not surprising he never really heard of Kierkegaard to be honest, Nietzsche didn’t even know about Spinoza until he was 35ish

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silverback_79 t1_iw4bhs8 wrote

I found him in 2005 (age 26), I took a philosophy 101 to get enough scores to get into uni, changed my life. His mercy is the best mercy. Made me a humanist on the spot.

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HeavyLogix t1_iw4nz8r wrote

Who is His referring to?

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silverback_79 t1_iw6b0cu wrote

Kierkegaard has a charitable view of people, as is the basic position of humanism and existentialism. Jesus said "I bring the sword". Ie he gives people the choice to either love the other or get out of the way. You can't have the cake and eat it too, you can't help your friends and family while still retaining a confirmation-starved ego and putting yourself up as No.1.

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HeavyLogix t1_iw6r8t7 wrote

Was that supposed to answer my question?

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silverback_79 t1_iw6rko3 wrote

Not really, it was a description of selflessness, mercy. Judging by your tone I'm not sure you can relate.

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HeavyLogix t1_iw6rvj2 wrote

So you didn’t answer my question then tried to get snappy. Awesome job 👏

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SquintyBrock t1_iw3jcik wrote

I take it from your username you’re an anarchist… okay, sell me on why I should to commit to reading Kierkegaard?

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that1anarchist t1_iw3kpiu wrote

Well, he's pretty much directly responsible for the concept that we choose our own path and are responsible for our own growth. Additionally, his discourse on faith in Fear and Trembling is, firstly beautiful, but also incredibly well structured. For a theistic philosopher, it's a staple of how such an argument should be constructed.

Also, Kierkegaard was a master of understanding other viewpoints. If you really want your skin to crawl, I recommend The Seducer's Diary.

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SquintyBrock t1_iw42k74 wrote

Well that isn’t making me want to put down Kant (not that I’m actually reading Kant atm), but Fear and Trembling has definitely risen on my reading list.

I have the impression he’s a bit “wimpy” - mainly because of his commentary on Hegel.

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vestbirkw t1_iw4k91z wrote

I think the fact that the man singlehandedly started existentialism is enough to justify reading him. The problems we face in modern today (depression, suicide, anxiety, isolation in spite of connectedness) were all predicted by Kierkegaard. If you want a good and highly relevant place to start I would recommend his short book "The Present Age".

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hemannjo t1_iw4qk8i wrote

Cringe

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SquintyBrock t1_iw6oywu wrote

“Defend Kierkegaard’s critique of Hegel” or “your mum” - you can pick which response is on your level…

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