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Single Idea 16002

[filed under theme 16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 3. Self as Non-physical ]

Full Idea

A human being is essentially spirit, but what is spirit? Spirit is to be a self. But what is the Self? In short, it is a synthesis of the infinite and the finite, of the temporal and the eternal, of freedom and necessity.

Gist of Idea

The self is a combination of pairs of attributes: freedom/necessity, infinite/finite, temporal/eternal

Source

Søren Kierkegaard (Sickness unto Death [1849], p.59)

Book Ref

Kierkegaard,Søren: 'Sickness Unto Death', ed/tr. Hannay,Alistair [Penguin ], p.59

A Reaction

The dense language of his first paragraph was to poke fun at fashionable Hegelian writing. The book gets very lucid afterwards! [SY]

The 47 ideas from Søren Kierkegaard

16009 When we seek our own 'freedom' we are just trying to avoid responsibility [Kierkegaard]
22096 Anxiety is not a passing mood, but a response to human freedom [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
22098 Socrates neglects the gap between knowing what is good and doing good [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
22097 The ultimate in life is learning to be anxious in the right way [Kierkegaard]
21909 Ultimate knowledge is being anxious in the right way [Kierkegaard]
20758 Anxiety is staring into the yawning abyss of freedom [Kierkegaard]
5650 Reason is just abstractions, so our essence needs a subjective 'leap of faith' [Kierkegaard, by Scruton]
22095 There are aesthetic, ethical and religious subjectivity [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
22091 Kierkegaard prioritises the inward individual, rather than community [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
5651 Traditional views of truth are tautologies, and truth is empty without a subject [Kierkegaard, by Scruton]
22087 Philosophy fails to articulate the continual becoming of existence [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
22088 Faith is like a dancer's leap, going up to God, but also back to earth [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
22090 For me time stands still, and I with it [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
20747 What matters is not right choice, but energy, earnestness and pathos in the choosing [Kierkegaard]
9305 The plebeians bore others; only the nobility bore themselves [Kierkegaard]
16006 Either Abraham rises higher than universal ethics, or he is a mere murderer [Kierkegaard]
7577 Abraham was willing to suspend ethics, for a higher idea [Kierkegaard]
16012 Philosophy can't be unbiased if it ignores language, as that is no more independent than individuals are [Kierkegaard]
21910 Our destiny is the highest pitch of world-weariness [Kierkegaard]
16008 The best way to be a Christian is without 'Christianity' [Kierkegaard]
16003 If people marry just because they are lonely, that is self-love, not love [Kierkegaard]
16000 Fixed ideas should be tackled aggressively [Kierkegaard]
16001 Life may be understood backwards, but it has to be lived forwards [Kierkegaard]
20735 We need to see that Christianity cannot be understood [Kierkegaard]
16007 I assume existence, rather than reasoning towards it [Kierkegaard]
16013 Nothing necessary can come into existence, since it already 'is' [Kierkegaard]
22094 Subjective truth can only be sustained by repetition [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
22093 Life is a repetition when what has been now becomes [Kierkegaard]
16002 The self is a combination of pairs of attributes: freedom/necessity, infinite/finite, temporal/eternal [Kierkegaard]
16005 I recognise knowledge, but it is the truth by which I can live and die that really matters [Kierkegaard]
22092 Kierkegaard's truth draws on authenticity, fidelity and honesty [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
20313 The highest truth we can get is uncertainty held fast by an inward passion [Kierkegaard]
20314 People want to lose themselves in movements and history, instead of being individuals [Kierkegaard]
20312 God cannot be demonstrated objectively, because God is a subject, only existing inwardly [Kierkegaard]
7578 I conceived it my task to create difficulties everywhere [Kierkegaard]
7584 Without risk there is no faith [Kierkegaard]
7580 Pantheism destroys the distinction between good and evil [Kierkegaard]
7579 While big metaphysics is complete without ethics, personal philosophy emphasises ethics [Kierkegaard]
7581 Speculative philosophy loses the individual in a vast vision of humanity [Kierkegaard]
15999 Pure truth is for infinite beings only; I prefer endless striving for truth [Kierkegaard]
20742 The real subject is ethical, not cognitive [Kierkegaard]
22047 Wherever there is painless contradiction there is also comedy [Kierkegaard]
7582 Becoming what one is is a huge difficulty, because we strongly aspire to be something else [Kierkegaard]
7583 Faith is the highest passion in the sphere of human subjectivity [Kierkegaard]
7586 God does not think or exist; God creates, and is eternal [Kierkegaard]
22086 The most important aspect of a human being is not reason, but passion [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
15998 Perfect love is not in spite of imperfections; the imperfections must be loved as well [Kierkegaard]