George Patios

Kierkegaard’s construction of human self

Article
18/1 - Spring 2013, pages 37-47
Date of online publication: 30 juillet 2015
Date of publication: 30 juin 2013

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse Kierkegaard’s philosophical views on the problem of the nature of human self. By closely examining Kierkegaard’s texts The Concept of Anxiety and The Sickness unto Death we argue that Kierkegaard ‘constructs’ human self in a specific way. This way reveals, through the examination by Kierkegaard of ‘‘anxiety’’ and ‘’despair’’, three main characteristics of human self: a) self is a dynamic process which is always ‘becoming’ in time through free will and freedom of choice, b) human self is always a historical self and thus history is the direct product of ‘becoming a self’ and c) human self in order to be ‘whole’ must freely ground itself in a transcendental being (God).

Cite this article

Patios, Georgios. “Kierkegaard’s Construction of the Human Self.” Forum Philosophicum 18, no. 1 (2013): 37–47. doi:10.35765/forphil.2013.1801.03.