Existentialism Class

"Kierkegaard is widely considered to be the father of existentialism, and within Fear and Trembling we see him propounding a 'philosophy of existence', self-conscious thinking about human existence itself. He writes not dialectically, but personal, novelistically, and using pseudonyms..."

im tired. i cant believe its raining on my deerfield fair party. that kid looks like jess from gilmore girls - hes even got the wacky hair going. i hate this sweatshirt, why am i wearing it? nice dreads, i wish i

"... and so we begin to see the split in the five distinct ways of seeing philosophy: speculative vs. practical, objective vs. subjective, universal vs. particular, human nature vs. individuality, and cognition vs. will and emotion. What existentialism will do..."

i cant believe i didnt study for my german test yesterday. i cant believe that i actually forgot the feminine personal pronoun. actually, i should believe it because obviously i didnt study. i should study for my religion test today. i dont want to. why am i not studying for classes? is this just junioritis or

"...but Kierkegaard doesn't want us to 'hold the world at arms length in order to understand it." He is practical, subjective - what is it to experience human life rather than to examine it? Most particularly, is it our reason and cognition that makes us human or our will and emotions? Socrates, and down through Descartes and Kant, would all claim that...

oh god, i am so tired. 'i can't focus. 'how can a young person stay pure? by obeying your word'. what is purity? kierkegaard's book - 'purity of heart is to will one thing' -what does it mean to will one thing? purity beyond sexuality - to be fixated on just one thing - to not be distracted - intellectual purity and purity of focus and purity of soul before god - indistractability

"... Hegel's dialect implies that for every thesis and antithesis, there is a synthesis, and that this will continue until the Truth is reached - an examining, rejecting, moving forward pattern is established..."

not to be pure, not to get pure, to stay pure. to set up your tent there. no, a foundation, build a house. to stay - to be steady - becoming pure isnt the problem, finding purity isnt the problem, staying there is the problem

"... but here Kierkegaard is implying that a synthesis is impossible. The choice between ethical duty and the demands of God is paradoxical. You cannot synthesis the two because they are ultimately incompatible. The ethical can become..."

but this is silly, this doesn't make sense. the questions is how to stay pure, the answer is "by obeying your word" - that doesnt answer the question. the problem with staying pure is the inability to obey. hes given a definition, not a solution. "how do i stay pure? obey your word. what is obedience to your word? staying pure." its a circle, it never ends, there is no solution

"...so in this sense Kierkegaard is rejecting the tradition that says there is an ultimate compatibility between faith and reason and that faith and reason are two different ways of arriving at the same point. Faith, Kierkegaard claims, is a paradox and its requirements are not humanly possible. What is humanly possible? An ethical life, and aesthetic life, even a life of religious resignation. But true faith is an absurdity and therefore supernatural...."

i should be taking notes on this lecture, i'm writing a research paper on kierkegaard this is IMPORTANT purity how can a young person stay build a house live in the house not just today its not a hotel but live in tomorrow and forever staying there paradox faith as the absurd how can a young person build a house if

"... the religious duty cannot be reduced to the ethical duty..."

how can a young person

"... and if the absurdity of faith's requirements cannot be accomplished through human power..."

how? by

"...because it is often independent of reason, and Kierkegaard would claim, beyond reason..."

for it is by

"...faith..."

you have been saved, not through

"... the ethical demands..."

so that no one can boast.


[this is an "artistic compilation", if you will, of the actual notes (both kinds- academic and personal) that i took this morning during my existentialism class.]