Soren Kierkegaard was born in 1813 in Denmark. He lived a short life of forty-two years.
In this short life of his, he was a successful theologian and philosopher. He was a different
philosopher than earlier times; he did not interest in Kant and other philosophies. He
reasoned the existence of passionate human beings with consciousness. Like the Sophists,
he believed that truth is subjective and relies on a particular individual’s experience, but he
admired Socrates’ works. He also believed that life and decisions made in one’s life cannot
be calculated or reasoned by mathematics or science. It is because truth is very subjective.
Since truth is subjective, and it is relative to an individual, then there is a higher value on
faith, according to Kierkegaard. And finally it is through ones faith, not through
calculations, one may truly feel the existence of god (or Jesus). And the modern society of
the nineteenth century lacked this core element of faith. This was the reason Christianity is
weak, a religion that once flourished throughout the Western civilization. This lack of faith
on religion is a huge problem, according to Kierkegaard.
Kierkegaard thinks that this lack of faith has its reasons. At the time, philosophers emerged
with the point of view on nonexistence of god, and these philosophers’ followers at the
time started believing upon that concept. God used to be a part of humans themselves, but
now people are getting alienated from god himself. In other words, people are getting
further from themselves. Kierkegaard therefore believed that there is a solution and that
faith on god can be restored in the modern world.
The proposed solution came in three stages: the Aesthetic Stage, the Ethical Stage, and the
Religious stage. The Aesthetic Stage could be seen as “the pursuit of pleasure in life.” The
Ethical Stage could be seen as “responsibility and moral commitment.” And finally, the
Religious Stage could be seen as “freedom, self-actualization, and passionate.”
Kierkegaard saw the first stage, the Aesthetic Stage as the stage where Sophists and
teenagers belonged in. This stage was for people in a quest for “sensual faithless love.”
Kierkegaard believed that the second stage, or the Ethical stage, could be achieved if one
lives a responsible life with ethics, logic, and passion. This is where the believers of
Socrates and Kant belonged in. Followers of Socrates because these philosophers had
plotted out the universal moral law. Followers of Kant because they treated people as an
