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Background
Background
Søren Kierkegaard (5 May 1813 - 11 November 1855) was born, lived, and died in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is usually considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. (Existentialism is the idea that we must choose the meaning and purpose of our life, rather than be given it, or discover it.)
His written works were written under pseudonyms, each pseudonym representing a particular viewpoint. His philosophy often reflects this multi-vocal view - perhaps his most famous work being Either/Or, the main idea of which was that whatever we choose we are always in danger of losing sight of truth.
The story of Abraham
The story of Abraham
His work, Fear and Trembling, was written under the pseudonym Johannes de silentio (John of the silence) and focuses on the person of Abraham from the book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, specifically on the story of how God commanded him to sacrifice his firstborn son. Here is the relevant extract:
Abraham Tested
Abraham Tested
22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
—Genesis, Chapter 22Value beyond reason
Value beyond reason
Kierkegaard wants to make sense of this story and Abraham’s role as the father of faith. In another of his works, the upbuilding discourses, Kierkegaard describes how there are two routes to happiness: a person can either seek happiness in themselves or in something else; the first person lives in memory and the other in hope. Kierkegaard sees Abraham as an extreme example of the latter - someone who lives in hope.
For Kierkegaard, Abraham represents a value system beyond the world of reason, logic and ethics.
No, not one shall be forgotten who was great in the world. But each was great in his own way, and each in proportion to the greatness of that which he loved. For he who loved himself became great by himself, and he who loved other men became great by his selfless devotion, but he who loved God became greater than all. Everyone shall be remembered, but each became great in proportion to his expectation. One became great by expecting the possible, another by expecting the eternal, but he who expected the impossible became greater than all. Everyone shall be remembered, but each was great in proportion to the greatness of that with which he strove. For he who strove with the world became great by overcoming the world, and he who strove with himself became great by overcoming himself, but he who strove with God became greater than all. … There was one who was great by reason of his power, and one who was great by reason of his wisdom, and one who was great by reason of his hope, and one who was great by reason of his love; but Abraham was greater than all, great by reason of his power whose strength is impotence, great by reason of his wisdom whose secret is foolishness, great by reason of his hope whose form is madness, great by reason of the love which is hatred of oneself.
—Kierkegaard, Fear and TremblingFor Kierkegaard, Abraham’s position was paradoxical - it could make no sense. His choice was necessarily nonsensical, and this is precisely what made it valuable.
I suppose that one could interpret his point in the following way - if there was a reason for the way in which Abraham acted, then his actions would have been, at least in some way, predictable, and therefore less free. But this impotent, mad, foolish, hate-filled act was entirely without reason - It was pure choice.
Infinite resignation
Infinite resignation
For Kierkegaard, this absolute freedom, this faith, must be preceded by resignation, an acceptance that one has no power in the world. He felt that the general gist of enlightenment thinking pushed against this, however, by seeking to control everything.
Abraham I cannot understand, in a certain sense there is nothing I can learn from him but astonishment. If people fancy that by considering the outcome of this story they might let themselves be moved to believe, they deceive themselves and want to swindle God out of the first movement of faith, the infinite resignation. They would suck worldly wisdom out of the paradox. Perhaps one or another may succeed in that, for our age is not willing to stop with faith, with its miracle of turning water into wine, it goes further, it turns wine into water.
—Kierkegaard, Fear and TremblingTasks
Tasks
Why did Kierkegaard (or rather Johannes de silentio) think that we should admire Abraham for being willing to sacrifice his son?
What did Kierkegaard mean by infinite resignation and why do you think he thought that it must precede faith?
Describe two possible objections to Kierkegaard's position.
What do you think of Kierkegaard’s assessment of the actions of Abraham?
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