Kierkegaard
Existentialism's founding thinker
Kierkegaard refers to Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), a Danish philosopher and theologian widely considered the father of existentialism.
His works explored themes of individual existence, anxiety, faith, and the limits of rational systems, arguing that truth is subjective and must be lived rather than merely understood.
Kierkegaard's influence extends across philosophy, theology, and psychology, and his name often appears as shorthand for existentialist ideas about authentic choice and personal responsibility.
Persistent apprehensive distress
- despairTotal absence of hope
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- angstDeep unfocused worry
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
subjectivity · choice · freedom · individuality · self-awareness · becoming · existence · leap of faith
Faith based on Jesus
- beliefTrust held as true
- AbrahamFirst Hebrew patriarch
- sacrificeGiving up something precious
- fear and tremblingOverwhelming awe-filled dread
trust · devotion · theology · grace · revelation · transcendence · religiousness · absurd
Denmark's capital city
- DenmarkScandinavian constitutional monarchy
- ScandinaviaNordic countries collectively
- NordicOf northern Europe
- Golden AgeLegendary period of perfection
Hans Christian Andersen · Lutheranism · journals · nineteenth century · burial
Periodicals or personal logs
- pseudonymousUsing a false name
- discoursesFormal communications on subjects
- edifyingIntellectually or morally uplifting
German absolute idealist philosopher
- SocratesAncient Athenian questioning philosopher
- critiqueDetailed evaluative analysis
- dialecticsReasoning through contradiction
- pseudonymsFictitious adopted names
authorship · indirect communication · phenomenology · ethics · aesthetics · rationalism · speculation · system
anxiety
Persistent apprehensive distress
authenticity · subjectivity · choice · freedom · individuality · self-awareness · becoming · existence · leap of faith · stages
Christianity
Faith based on Jesus
fear and trembling · trust · devotion · theology · grace · revelation · transcendence · religiousness · absurd · paradox
Copenhagen
Denmark's capital city
- DenmarkScandinavian constitutional monarchy
- ScandinaviaNordic countries collectively
- NordicOf northern Europe
Golden Age · Hans Christian Andersen · Lutheranism · journals · nineteenth century · burial
journals
Periodicals or personal logs
- pseudonymousUsing a false name
- discoursesFormal communications on subjects
- edifyingIntellectually or morally uplifting
Hegel
German absolute idealist philosopher
- SocratesAncient Athenian questioning philosopher
- critiqueDetailed evaluative analysis
- dialecticsReasoning through contradiction
pseudonyms · authorship · indirect communication · phenomenology · ethics · aesthetics · rationalism · speculation · system · polemic
- Famous DanesHans Christian Andersen, Niels Bohr, Tycho Brahe, Canute, Aqua
- 1800s FiguresDarwin, Marx, Dickens, Beethoven, Napoleon
- thinkersthinkers, thinker, philosophers, philosopher, Aristotle
- FilosofiKant, Nietzsche, Hegel, Marx, Spinoza
- philosophyethics, logic, metaphysics, ontology, epistemology
- Danish literatureHans Christian Andersen, The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina, The Snow Queen, The Red Shoes
- Soren KierkegaardExistentialism's melancholy father