Furtak, Kierkegaard's Existential Quest

Abstract: Søren Kierkegaard as well as his pseudonym Johannes Climacus argue against an objective thinking that does not concern itself with the thinker, claiming instead that “subjectivity is truth.” When too abstract a notion of existence is philosophically taken for granted, the existing individual will not get clear about what it means for him to be. For the existential philosopher, who is concerned with the kind of “edifying truth” that can inform a life in pursuit of wisdom, the “truth which builds up” is the only truth worthy of the name. This truth does not carry the self- contained security of a mathematical proof, for it requires the passionate, love-based interest of the person to whose life it pertains. Following in the footpath of Socrates involves realizing that our life prior to doing philosophy has largely been wasted, and hence that life becomes worth living only after a change of priorities. This article examines Kierkegaard’s own existential quest in light of this personal transformation.