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Philosophical Fragments ( Danish title: Philosophiske Smuler eller En Smule Philosophi ; more accurately translated as Philosophical Crumbs ) is a Christian philosophical work written by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in 1844. It was the second of three works written under the pseudonym Johannes Climacus; the other two were De omnibus dubitandum est in 1841 and Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments in 1846.

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140-408: Kierkegaardian scholars D. Anthony Storm and Walter Lowrie believe Kierkegaard could be referring to Johannes Climacus , a seventh-century Christian monk who believed that an individual is converted to Christianity by way of a ladder, one rung (virtue) at a time. Kierkegaard believes the individual comes to an understanding with Christ by a leap. Kierkegaard scholar and translator David F. Swenson

280-405: A Munchausen . If the credibility of a contemporary is to have any interest for him—and alas! one may be sure that this will create a tremendous sensation, and give occasion for the writing of folios; for this counterfeit earnestness, which asks whether so-and-so is trustworthy instead of whether the inquirer himself has faith, is an excellent mask for spiritual indolence, and for town gossip on

420-537: A 600-page sequel to his 83-page Fragments . He devoted over 200 pages of Concluding Unscientific Postscript to an explanation of what he meant by Philosophical Fragments . He referred to a quote from Plato's Hippias Major in his Postscript to Philosophical Fragments : "But I must ask you Socrates, what do you suppose is the upshot of all this? As I said a little while ago, it is the scrapings and shavings of argument, cut up into little bits." He could have been thinking about this quote when he wrote this book. Plato

560-527: A European scale—if the credibility of such a witness is to have any significance it must be with respect to the historical fact. But what historical fact? Philosophical Fragments p. 77 if it is the misfortune of the age that it has come to know too much, has forgotten what it means to exist and what inwardness is, then it was important that sin not be conceived in abstract categories, in which it cannot be conceived at all, that is, decisively, because it stands in an essential relation to existing. Therefore it

700-635: A book about Kierkegaard's books which used Johannes Climacus as a pseudonym. and Kierkegaardian biographer, Alastair Hannay, discusses Philosophical Fragments 36 times in Søren Kierkegaard , A Biography. Jyrki Kivelä wonders if Kierkegaard's Paradox is David Hume 's miracle . Which comes first existence or essence ? Richard Gravil tries to explain it in his book Existentialism . Kierkegaard says God comes into existence again and again for each single individual. He didn't just come once for all. An early existentialist, Miguel de Unamuno , discussed

840-476: A choice, and yet it has existed, for it was indeed "himself." The choice here makes two dialectical movements simultaneous-that which is chosen does not exist and comes into existence through the choice-and that which is chosen exists; otherwise it was not a choice. In other words, if what I chose did not exist but came into existence absolutely through the choice, then I did not choose-then I created. But I do not create myself-I choose myself. Therefore, whereas nature

980-427: A circuitous path, to return to himself! Here we have a striking confirmation of the position that the secret of theology is nothing else than anthropology – the knowledge of God nothing else than a knowledge of man! The Essence of Christianity , Ludwig Feuerbach, 1841 Otto Pfleiderer wrote an assessment of Kierkegaard's views in 1877. He called his work " ascetic individualistic mysticism ." Robert L Perkins wrote

1120-524: A feature of the philosophy of religion. Key thinkers in this field include William Brede Kristensen and Gerard van der Leeuw . Just like there are different religions, there are different forms of religious experience. One could have "subject/content" experiences (such as a euphoric meditative state) and "subject/consciousness/object" experiences (such as the perception of having seen a god, i.e. theophany ). Experiences of theophany are described in ancient Mediterranean religious works and myths and include

1260-448: A finite sense, for then this " self " would indeed be something finite that would fall among all the other finite things-but in the absolute sense, and yet he does choose himself and not someone else. This self that he chooses in this way is infinitely concrete, for it is he himself, and yet it is absolutely different from his former self, for he has chosen it absolutely. This self has not existed before, because it came into existence through

1400-407: A man knows he cannot seek, since he knows it; and what he does not know he cannot seek, since he does not even know for what to seek." The problem for the "Learner" is that he is in "Error", and is ignorant of his Error. He had the truth from birth, he knew who his creator was, but forgot. Kierkegaard calls this Error "Sin". How can he find out that he had vested his life in outer goods rather than

1540-411: A mystic have been put forward. More recently, some argued that religious experiences are caused by cognitive misattributions akin to hallucinations, although this was denied by others. A contrary position was taken by Bertrand Russell who compared the veridical value of religious experiences to the hallucinations of a drunk person: "From a scientific point of view, we can make no distinction between

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1680-463: A non-rational leap of faith to bridge the gulf between man and God. Wittgensteinian fideism meanwhile sees religious language games as being incommensurate with scientific and metaphysical language games, and that they are autonomous and thus may only be judged on their own standards. The obvious criticism to this is that many religions clearly put forth metaphysical claims. Several contemporary New Atheist writers which are hostile to religion hold

1820-419: A perceptual object, and thus religious experiences could logically be veridical unless we have a good reason to disbelieve them. Other philosophers such as Eleonore Stump and Matthew Benton argue for an interpersonal epistemology on which one can experience and know God in a relational or personal sense. According to Brian Davies common objections against the veridical force of religious experiences include

1960-478: A powerful repugnance for the truth of it. Our own existence and the existence of all things outside us must be believed, and cannot be determined in any other way. What is more certain than the end of man, and of what truth is there a more general and better attested knowledge? Nevertheless, no one is wise enough to believe it except the one who, as Moses makes clear, is taught by God himself to number his days. What one believes does not, therefore, have to be proved, and

2100-456: A proposition can be ever so incontrovertibly proven without on that account being believed. There are proofs of truth which are of as little value as the application which can be made of the truths themselves; indeed, one can believe the proof of the proposition without giving approval to the proposition itself. The reasons of a Hume may be ever so cogent, and the refutations of them only assumptions and doubts; thus faith gains and loses equally with

2240-578: A related view that says that religious claims and scientific claims are opposed to each other and that therefore religions are false. The Protestant theologian Karl Barth (1886–1968) argued that religious believers have no need to prove their beliefs through reason and thus rejected the project of natural theology . According to Barth, human reason is corrupt and God is utterly different from his creatures, thus we can only rely on God's own revelation for religious knowledge. Barth's view has been termed Neo-orthodoxy . Similarly, D.Z. Phillips argues that God

2380-518: A resurrection, without a nativity, without Chartres and Fra Angelico , without wine and wafers, without heaven and hell, without God as judge and without judgment. With philosophical conceptualization, the Trinity is reduced to Kant 's categories of Universality (God the father) Particularity (Christ the Son) and Individuality (The Holy Spirit). The incarnation no longer refers to Christ alone, but only to

2520-423: A servant. But God can't make himself understood because he's completely unlike every other human being. God has not sinned, whereas every human being has. This is a paradox but the ultimate paradox is that a single individual who looks just like everyone else is God. "The thesis that God has existed in human form, was born, grew up; is certainly the paradox in the strictest sense, the absolute paradox." Christianity

2660-507: A theistic one) has been described by the likes of Friedrich Schleiermacher , Rudolf Otto and William James . According to Schleiermacher, the distinguishing feature of a religious experience is that "one is overcome by the feeling of absolute dependence." Otto meanwhile, argued that while this was an important element, the most basic feature of religious experiences is that it is numinous . He described this as "non-rational, non-sensory experience or feeling whose primary and immediate object

2800-515: A very plausible demonstration of the eternal validity of the personality. Indeed, even a suicide does not actually will to do away with his self; he, too, wishes-he wishes another form of his self, and this is why we certainly find a suicide who is very convinced of the immortality of the soul, but whose whole being was so ensnared that he believed he would by this step find the absolute form for his spirit. The reason, however, it may seem to an individual as if he could be changed continually and yet remain

2940-507: Is historical . But for Kierkegaard "all coming into existence takes place in freedom ." The disciple freely chooses to follow Christ when the Holy Spirit convinces him that he's a sinner. He finally discloses what this "condition" the "Moment" brings to the individual. He says, "faith has precisely the required character; for in the certainty of belief there is always present a negated uncertainty , in every way corresponding to

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3080-452: Is a belief that one can reasonably hold without evidence, such as a memory, a basic sensation or a perception. Plantinga's argument is that belief in God is of this type because within every human mind there is a natural awareness of divinity. William James in his essay " The Will to Believe " argues for a pragmatic conception of religious belief. For James, religious belief is justified if one

3220-435: Is a believer. (This corresponds exactly to the requirement that man must renounce his reason, and on the other hand discloses the only form of authority that corresponds to Faith.) If anyone proposes to believe, i.e., imagines himself to believe, because many good and upright people living here on the hill have believed, i.e., have said that they believed (for no man can control the profession of another further than this; even if

3360-413: Is a desperate sortie (salida). Even so, but it is only by the very desperateness of this sortie that we can win through to hope, to that hope whose vitalizing illusion is of more force than all rational knowledge, and which assures us that there is always something that cannot be reduced to reason. And of reason the same may be said as was said of Christ: that he who is not with it is against it. That which

3500-485: Is a greater difference than between a living animal and its anatomical skeleton. The ancient and modern sceptics may wrap themselves ever so much in the lion skin of Socratic ignorance; nevertheless they betray themselves by their voices and ears. If they know nothing, why does the world need a learned demonstration of it? Their hypocrisy is ridiculous and insolent. Whoever needs so much acumen and eloquence to convince himself of his ignorance, however, must cherish in his heart

3640-409: Is a very short distance indeed. From Hegel to Existentialism , By Robert C. Solomon , Oxford University Press US, 1989 p. 61 Eduard Geismar gave a seminar about the religious thought of Kierkegaard in 1933. He said, "Kierkegaard develops the concept of an existential thinker. The task of such a thinker is to understand himself in his existence, with its uncertainty, its risk and its passion . Socrates

3780-461: Is also a paradox as well as the forgiveness of sins. Kierkegaard is saying that the "Moment" the individual comes in contact with the Paradox is of utmost importance because this is where the decision is made. This is his Either/Or . Either believe or be offended. Reason is attempting to understand the Paradox but comes to its own limit and can't understand what it knows nothing about. how should

3920-529: Is an Introductory Issue, Not to Christianity but to Becoming a Christian." Kierkegaard uses familiar Christian vocabulary to develop his own method for arriving at Truth. He presents two views, the Socratic and the religious. Socrates is considered an authoritative voice in the philosophic community so Kierkegaard begins with his ideas. He developed the doctrine of recollection which Kierkegaard makes use of in his explanation of Truth and ignorance . His aim

4060-537: Is at least partially to be accepted through faith , confidence or trust in one's religious belief. There are different conceptions or models of faith, including: There are also different positions on how faith relates to reason. One example is the belief that faith and reason are compatible and work together, which is the view of Thomas Aquinas and the orthodox view of Catholic natural theology . According to this view, reason establishes certain religious truths and faith (guided by reason) gives us access to truths about

4200-408: Is created from nothing, whereas I myself as immediate personality am created from nothing, I as free spirit am born out of the principle of contradiction and am born through choosing myself. Kierkegaard leads his reader to consider how a teacher might become a teacher. He says life and its circumstances constitute an occasion for an individual to become a teacher and he in turn becomes an occasion for

4340-580: Is evidence for the belief in God. Another move is to argue in a Bayesian way for the probability of a religious truth like God, not for total conclusive evidence. Some philosophers, however, argue that religious belief is warranted without evidence and hence are sometimes called non-evidentialists . They include fideists and reformed epistemologists . Alvin Plantinga and other reformed epistemologists are examples of philosophers who argue that religious beliefs are "properly basic beliefs" and that it

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4480-511: Is illusory ( maya ). The various philosophical positions of Taoism can also be viewed as non-theistic about the ultimate reality ( Tao ). Taoist philosophers have conceived of different ways of describing the ultimate nature of things. For example, while the Taoist Xuanxue thinker Wang Bi argued that everything is "rooted" in Wu (non-being, nothingness), Guo Xiang rejected Wu as

4620-419: Is not a form of knowledge, but a free act, an expression of will , it is not having a relationship with a doctrine but having a relationship with God. Kierkegaard says "Faith, self-active, relates itself to the improbable and the paradox, is self-active in discovering it and in holding it fast at every moment-in order to be able to believe." From the God himself everyone receives the condition who by virtue of

4760-423: Is not intelligible through reason or evidence because God is not an empirical object or a 'being among beings'. As Brian Davies points out, the problem with positions like Barth's is that they do not help us in deciding between inconsistent and competing revelations of the different religions. The topic of whether religious beliefs are compatible with science and in what way is also another important topic in

4900-402: Is not irrational to hold them even though they are not supported by any evidence. The rationale here is that some beliefs we hold must be foundational and not be based on further rational beliefs. If this is not so, then we risk an infinite regress . This is qualified by the proviso that they can be defended against objections (this differentiates this view from fideism). A properly basic belief

5040-547: Is not only irrational, it is contra-rational. Kierkegaard says: "Poetry is illusion before knowledge; religion illusion after knowledge. Between poetry and religion the worldly wisdom of living plays its comedy. Every individual who does not live either poetically or religiously is a fool" ( Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrif t, chap, iv., sect. 2a, 2, Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments ). The same writer tells us that Christianity

5180-414: Is not rational is contra- rational ; and such is hope. By this circuitous route we always arrive at hope in the end. Hegel and his followers accepted Christianity without miracles or any other supernaturalism . Robert Solomon puts it this way: "What is Christianity, "revealed religion," divested of its "figurative thought"? It is a faith without icons, images, stories, and myths, without miracles, without

5320-413: Is one aspect of what is known as natural theology or the natural theistic project. This strand of natural theology attempts to justify belief in God by independent grounds. Perhaps most of the philosophy of religion is predicated on natural theology's assumption that the existence of God can be justified or warranted on rational grounds. There has been considerable philosophical and theological debate about

5460-557: Is otherwise. Instead of the objective uncertainty, there is here the certainty that, viewed objectively, it is the absurd, and this absurdity, held fast in the passion of inwardness, is faith. What, then, is the absurd? The absurd is that the eternal truth has come into existence in time, that God has come into existence, has been born, has grown up, has come into existence exactly as an individual human being, indistinguishable from any other human being. Concluding Unscientific Postscript , Hong p. 209-210 An individual can know what Christianity

5600-970: Is outside the self" as well as having the qualities of being a mystery, terrifying and fascinating. Rowe meanwhile defined a religious experience as "an experience in which one senses the immediate presence of the divine." According to Rowe, religious experiences can be divided in the following manner: Non-monotheistic religions meanwhile also report different experiences from theophany, such as non-dual experiences of oneness and deeply focused meditative states (termed samadhi in Indian religion) as well as experiences of enlightenment in Buddhism, liberation in Hinduism, and kevala in Jainism . Another typology, offered by Chad Meister, differentiates between three major experiences: Another debate on this topic

5740-591: Is presented with a question which is rationally undecidable and if one is presented with genuine and live options which are relevant for the individual. For James, religious belief is defensible because of the pragmatic value it can bring to one's life, even if there is no rational evidence for it. Some work in recent epistemology of religion goes beyond debates over evidentialism, fideism, and reformed epistemology to consider contemporary issues deriving from new ideas about knowledge-how and practical skill; how practical factors can affect whether one could know whether theism

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5880-503: Is responsible to an authority that initiates its thinking, speaking, and witnessing ... [while] philosophy bases its arguments on the ground of timeless evidence." Some aspects of philosophy of religion have classically been regarded as a part of metaphysics . In Aristotle 's Metaphysics , the necessarily prior cause of eternal motion was an unmoved mover , who, like the object of desire, or of thought, inspires motion without itself being moved. Today, however, philosophers have adopted

6020-563: Is saddened that it took so long to find out that he forgot his soul belonged to God and not to the world, and he "Repents". The "Moment" the Teacher brings the condition the learner experiences a " New Birth ". Kierkegaard says a "change has taken place within him like the change from non-being to being . He calls this change "Conversion". He says, "When one who has experienced birth thinks of himself as born, he conceives this transition from non-being to being. The same principle must also hold in

6160-467: Is sensible, differs from logical truth, the demonstration of which is rational; and religious truth, the truth of faith, the substance of things hoped for, is not equivalent to moral truth, but superimposes itself upon it. He who affirms a faith built upon a basis of uncertainty does not and cannot lie. And not only do we not believe with reason, nor yet above reason nor below reason, but we believe against reason. Religious faith, it must be repeated yet again,

6300-418: Is something within him that in relation to everything else is absolute, something whereby he is who he is even if the change he achieved by his wish were the greatest possible. That he is mistaken, I shall show later, but at this point I merely want to find the most abstract expression for this "self" that makes him who he is. And this is nothing other than freedom. By this route it is actually possible to present

6440-404: Is subjectivity). The less objective reliability, the deeper is the possible inwardness. When the paradox itself is the paradox, it thrusts away by virtue of the absurd, and the corresponding passion of inwardness is faith. When Socrates believed that God is, he held fast the objective uncertainty with the entire passion of inwardness, and faith is precisely in this contradiction, in this risk. Now it

6580-465: Is sufficient evidence, but disagree on whether such evidence exists. These arguments often stipulate that subjective religious experiences are not reasonable evidence and thus religious truths must be argued based on non-religious evidence. One of the strongest positions of evidentialism is that by William Kingdon Clifford who wrote: "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence". His view of evidentialism

6720-422: Is the measure of all things, in the sense that the individual man is the measure for others, but by no means in the Socratic sense that each man is his own measure, neither more nor less. Philosophical Fragments p. 29-30, 32 (See Works of Love , Hong 1995 p. 367-368) Analogy: whoever believes that there is a God and also a providence has an easier time (in preserving the faith), an easier time in definitely gaining

6860-399: Is the problem of human Free will and God's omniscience . God's omniscience could presumably include perfect knowledge of the future, leading to Theological determinism and thus possibly contradicting with human free will. There are different positions on this including libertarianism (free will is true) and Predestination . Belief in miracles and supernatural events or occurrences

7000-465: Is the source of human problems, while for Buddhism, it is craving and ignorance . A general question which philosophy of religion asks is what is the relationship, if any, between morality and religion. Brian Davies outlines four possible theses: Monotheistic religions who seek to explain morality and its relationship to God must deal with what is termed the Euthyphro dilemma , famously stated in

7140-431: Is the state of the teleologically suspended person when God tempts him, so also is anxiety the teleologically suspended person's state of mind in that desperate exemption from fulfilling the ethical. When truth is subjective, the inwardness of sin as anxiety in the existing individuality is the greatest possible distance and the most painful distance from the truth. Concluding Unscientific Postscript p. 269 Kierkegaard

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7280-731: Is the various evolutionary theories of religion which see the phenomenon as either adaptive or a by-product. Another can be seen in the various theories put forth by the Cognitive science of religion . Some argued that evolutionary or cognitive theories undermine religious belief. Closely related to knowledge and belief is how to interpret religious experiences and their potential for providing knowledge. Religious experiences have been recorded throughout all cultures and are widely diverse. These personal experiences tend to be highly important to individuals who undergo them. Discussions about religious experiences can be said to be informed in part by

7420-406: Is to advance beyond Socrates, who was interested in finite truth, to another Teacher who explained Eternal Truth. The Enlightenment movement was intent on combining concepts of God, nature, knowledge and man into one world view. Kierkegaard was a counter-Enlightenment writer. He believed that knowledge of God was a "condition" that only "the God" can give and the "Moment" God gives the condition to

7560-459: Is to win him. For it is only in love that the unequal can be made equal, and it is only in equality or unity that an understanding can be effected, and without a perfect understanding the Teacher is not the God, unless the obstacle comes wholly from the side of the learner, in his refusing to realize that which had been made possible for him." God's goal is to make himself understood and, according to Kierkegaard, he has three options. He could elevate

7700-588: Is true; from formal epistemology's use of probability theory; or from social epistemology (particularly the epistemology of testimony, or the epistemology of disagreement). For example, an important topic in the epistemology of religion is that of religious disagreement, and the issue of what it means for intelligent individuals of the same epistemic parity to disagree about religious issues. Religious disagreement has been seen as possibly posing first-order or higher-order problems for religious belief. A first order problem refers to whether that evidence directly applies to

7840-533: Is usually read in tandem with William James's article A Will to Believe (1896), which argues against Clifford's principle. More recent supporters of evidentialism include Antony Flew ("The Presumption of Atheism", 1972) and Michael Scriven (Primary philosophy, 1966). Both of them rely on the Ockhamist view that in the absence of evidence for X, belief in X is not justified. Many modern Thomists are also evidentialists in that they hold they can demonstrate there

7980-562: Is whether all religious cultures share common core mystical experiences ( Perennialism ) or whether these experiences are in some way socially and culturally constructed ( Constructivism or Contextualism ). According to Walter Stace all cultures share mystical experiences of oneness with the external world, as well as introverted "Pure Conscious Events" which is empty of all concepts, thoughts, qualities, etc. except pure consciousness. Similarly Ninian Smart argued that monistic experiences were universal. Perennialists tend to distinguish between

8120-442: Is without being a Christian. Kierkegaard says, "By Baptism Christianity gives him a name, and he is a Christian de nomine (by name); but in the decision he becomes a Christian and gives Christianity his name. It would indeed be a ludicrous contradiction if an existing person asked what Christianity is in terms of existence and then spent his whole life deliberating on that-for in that case when should he exist in it?" Belief

8260-467: The Nyaya school), while Buddhist thinkers argued against their conception of a creator god (Sanskrit: Ishvara ). The Hindu view of Advaita Vedanta , as defended by Adi Shankara , is a total non-dualism . Although Advaitins do believe in the usual Hindu gods, their view of ultimate reality is a radically monistic oneness ( Brahman without qualities) and anything which appears (like persons and gods)

8400-579: The Platonic dialogue " Euthyphro " as: "Is the pious (τὸ ὅσιον, i.e. what is morally good) loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?" Those who hold that what is moral is so because it is what God commands are defending a version of the Divine command theory . Another important topic which is widely discussed in Abrahamic monotheistic religious philosophy

8540-562: The Theravada Abhidharma view, which holds that the only ultimately existing things are transitory phenomenal events ( dharmas ) and their interdependent relations . Madhyamaka Buddhists such as Nagarjuna hold that ultimate reality is emptiness ( shunyata ) while the Yogacara holds that it is vijñapti (mental phenomena). In Indian philosophical discourses, monotheism was defended by Hindu philosophers (particularly

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8680-707: The Walter Lowrie House , to the university. Philosophy of Religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning philosophy. The field involves many other branches of philosophy, including metaphysics , epistemology , logic , ethics , aesthetics , philosophy of language , and philosophy of science . The philosophy of religion differs from religious philosophy in that it seeks to discuss questions regarding

8820-614: The inner goods of the Spirit ? A Teacher must bring him the "condition" necessary for understanding the Truth. He explains the whole process this way: In so far as the learner is in Error, but in consequence of his own act (and in no other way can he possibly be in this state, as we have shown above), he might seem to be free; for to be what one is by one's own act is freedom. And yet he is in reality unfree and bound and exiled; for to be free from

8960-421: The rounds of rebirth and morality is a means to achieve this, while for monotheistic traditions, God is the source or ground of all morality and heaven in the highest human good. The world religions also offer different conceptions of the source of evil and suffering in the world, that is, what is wrong with human life and how to solve and free ourselves from these dilemmas. For example, for Christianity, sin

9100-407: The "coming-into-existence is a kind of change, but is not a change in essence but in being and is a transition from not existing to existing. But this non-being which the subject of coming into existence leaves behind must itself have some sort of being. He asks his reader to consider whether the necessary can come into existence or if the necessary "Is", since everything that comes into existence

9240-588: The Doctrine of Recollection as an example of how truth was found in Ancient Greek philosophy and is still found in psychotherapy and modern medicine . Both of these sciences are based on questioning the patient, "Learner", in the hope of jogging their memory about past events. The therapist could ask the right question and not realize he has received the answer he was looking for, this is known as Meno's paradox . Kierkegaard puts his paradox this way, "what

9380-409: The God implants himself in human weakness, unless man becomes a new vessel and a new creature! But this becoming, what labors will attend the change, how convulsed with birth-pangs! And the understanding—how precarious, and how close each moment to misunderstanding, when the anguish of guilt seeks to disturb the peace of love! And how rapt in fear; for it is indeed less terrible to fall to the ground when

9520-550: The Holy ' are concepts which point to concerns about the ultimate or highest truth which most religious philosophies deal with in some way. One of the main differences among religions is whether the ultimate reality is a personal god or an impersonal reality. In Western religions , various forms of theism are the most common conceptions, while in Eastern religions , there are theistic and also various non-theistic conceptions of

9660-492: The Learner has "decisive significance". He uses the category of the single individual to help those seeking to become Christians. He says, "I am he who himself has been educated to the point of becoming a Christian. In the fact that education is pressed upon me, and in the measure that it is pressed, I press in turn upon this age ; but I am not a teacher, only a fellow student." And again, "Once and for all I must earnestly beg

9800-495: The Pharisee, “in order to justify himself,” asked, “Who is my neighbor?” he presumably thought that this might develop into a very protracted inquiry, so that it would perhaps take a very long time and then perhaps end with the admission that it was impossible to define the concept “ neighbor ” with absolute accuracy – for this very reason he asked the question, to find an escape, to waste time, and to justify himself. But God catches

9940-472: The Reason be able to understand what is absolutely different from itself? If this is not immediately evident, it will become clearer in the light of the consequences; for if the God is absolutely unlike man, then man is absolutely unlike the God; but how could the Reason be expected to understand this? Here we seem to be confronted with a paradox. Merely to obtain the knowledge that the God is unlike him, man needs

10080-526: The Sophists, the learned men of his time, “I know nothing.” Therefore these words were a thorn in their eyes and a scourge on their backs. All of Socrates’ ideas, which were nothing more than expectorations and secretions of his ignorance, seemed as frightful to them as the hair of Medusa’s head, the knob of the Aegis. The ignorance of Socrates was sensibility. But between sensibility and a theoretical proposition

10220-421: The Truth is to be exiled from the Truth, and to be exiled by one's own self is to be bound. But since he is bound by himself, may he not loose his bonds and set himself free? For whatever binds me, the same should be able to set me free when it wills; and since this power is here his own self, he should be able to liberate himself. But first at any rate he must will it. for he forges the chains of his bondage with

10360-520: The Ultimate. Theistic vs non-theistic is a common way of sorting the different types of religions. There are also several philosophical positions with regard to the existence of God that one might take including various forms of theism (such as monotheism and polytheism ), agnosticism and different forms of atheism . Keith Yandell outlines roughly three kinds of historical monotheisms: Greek , Semitic and Hindu . Greek monotheism holds that

10500-561: The West until the nineteenth century, and most pre-modern and early modern philosophical works included a mixture of religious themes and non-religious philosophical questions. In Asia, examples include texts such as the Hindu Upanishads , the works of Daoism and Confucianism and Buddhist texts . Greek philosophies like Pythagoreanism and Stoicism included religious elements and theories about deities, and Medieval philosophy

10640-423: The case of the new birth. Or is the difficulty increased by the fact that the non-being which precedes the new birth contains more being than the non-being which preceded the first birth ? But who then may be expected to think the new birth?" This is a paradox. When the seed of the oak is planted in earthen vessels, they break asunder; when new wine is poured in old leather bottles, they burst; what must happen when

10780-431: The choice in his first book, Either/Or: Let me make a little psychological observation. We frequently hear people vent their dissatisfaction in a complaint about life; often enough we hear them wishing. Imagine a poor wretch like that; let us skip over the wishes that shed no light here because they involve the utterly accidental. He wishes: Would that I had that man's intellect, or that man's talent etc. Indeed, to go to

10920-507: The cleverest pettifogger and most honorable attorney. Faith is not the work of reason, because faith arises just as little from reason as tasting and seeing does. Hamann’s Socratic Memorabilia , (Compiled for the Boredom of the Public by a Lover of Boredom), A translation and commentary by James C. O’Flaherty, 1967 Johns Hopkins Press p. 167-169 Only one who receives the condition from the God

11060-426: The conceptual scheme of any mystic strongly shapes their experiences and because mystics from different religions have very different schemas, there cannot be any universal mystical experiences. All religions argue for certain values and ideas of the moral Good. Non-monotheistic Indian traditions like Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta find the highest Good in nirvana or moksha which leads to release from suffering and

11200-427: The condition becomes the disciple. (..) For whoever has what he has from the God himself clearly has it at first hand; and he who does not have it from the God himself is not a disciple. (...) if the contemporary disciple gives the condition to the successor, the latter will come to believe in him. He receives the condition from him, and thus the contemporary becomes the object of Faith for the successor; for whoever gives

11340-462: The contemporary would have to hear the story from eyewitnesses. How reliable would they be? The only thing they saw was a lowly servant. The immediate contemporary can "serve as an occasion for the acquirement of historical knowledge", an occasion to help the individual understand himself in the Socratic sense, or the contemporary could have received the condition from God and become a believer. The "condition" comes into existence . Kierkegaard says

11480-414: The divine which, according to Aquinas, "exceed all the ability of human reason." Another position on is Fideism , the view that faith is "in some sense independent of, if not outright adversarial toward, reason." Modern philosophers such as Kierkegaard , William James , and Wittgenstein have been associated with this label. Kierkegaard in particular, argued for the necessity of the religious to take

11620-450: The experience itself, and its post experience interpretation to make sense of the different views in world religions. Some constructivists like Steven T. Katz meanwhile have argued against the common core thesis, and for either the view that every mystical experience contains at least some concepts (soft constructivism) or that they are strongly shaped and determined by one's religious ideas and culture (hard constructivism). In this view,

11760-423: The extreme: Would that I had that man's steadfastness. Wishes of that sort are frequently heard, but have you ever heard a person earnestly wish that he could be someone else? It is so far from being the case that it is particularly characteristic of people called unfortunate individualities that they cling most of all to themselves, that despite all their sufferings they still would not wish to be anybody else for all

11900-701: The fact that experience is frequently deceptive and that people who claim an experience of a god may be "mistakenly identifying an object of their experience", or be insane or hallucinating. However, he argues that we cannot deduce from the fact that our experiences are sometimes mistaken, hallucinations or distorted to the conclusion that all religious experiences are mistaken etc. Indeed, a drunken or hallucinating person could still perceive things correctly, therefore these objections cannot be said to necessarily disprove all religious experiences. According to C. B. Martin, "there are no tests agreed upon to establish genuine experience of God and distinguish it decisively from

12040-475: The faith (and not an illusion) in an imperfect world, where passion is kept vigilant, than in an absolutely perfect world. In such a world, faith is indeed inconceivable. If all the angels united, they would still be able to produce only an approximation, because in historical knowledge an approximation is the only certainty-but also too little on which to build an eternal happiness. Concluding Unscientific Postscript , 1846, Hong translation p. 29-30 Kierkegaard uses

12180-463: The help of the God; and now he learns that the God is absolutely different from himself. But if the God and man are absolutely different, this cannot be accounted for on the basis of what man derives from the God, for in so far they are akin. Their unlikeness must therefore be explained by what man derives from himself, or by what he has brought upon his own head. Philosophical Fragments , Swenson p. 34 (see 31-34) Kierkegaard says Reason "collides" with

12320-402: The individual is happy and asks for nothing more." Kierkegaard says Christ offers every single individual the "invitation." Kierkegaard explores how a contemporary of Christ and succeeding generations receive the "condition" necessary to understand the Paradox that God has permitted himself to be born and wrapped in swaddling-clothes. A contemporary could have been living abroad and in that case

12460-478: The individual this condition is eo ipso (in fact) the object of Faith, and the God. Philosophical Fragments p. 60-61 Kierkegaard mentioned Johann Georg Hamann (1730-1788) in his book Repetition p. 149 (1843) and this book, Philosophical Fragments (p. 38ff, Swenson), and what Kierkegaard writes is written also by Hamann in his book, Socratic Memorabilia , in this way: The opinion of Socrates can be summarized in these blunt words, when he said to

12600-420: The individual who experiences them, they are authoritative and they break down the authority of the rational mind. Not only that, but according to James, the mystic is justified in this. But when it comes to the non-mystic, the outside observer, they have no reason to regard them as either veridical nor delusive. The study of religious experiences from the perspective of the field of phenomenology has also been

12740-435: The interplay between science and religion, the nature and scope of good and evil, and religious treatments of birth, history, and death. The field also includes the ethical implications of religious commitments, the relation between faith, reason, experience and tradition, concepts of the miraculous, the sacred revelation , mysticism , power, and salvation . The term philosophy of religion did not come into general use in

12880-559: The kind reader always to bear in mente (in mind) that the thought behind the whole work is: what it means to become a Christian." He can only bring an individual to the point of becoming a Christian because the single individual must choose to become a Christian in freedom. Kierkegaard says, either believe or be offended. But choose. Philosophers and Historians tend to try to prove Christianity rather than teach belief in Christ through faith. Kierkegaard says, "As long as I keep my hold on

13020-446: The kinds of proofs, justifications and arguments that are appropriate for this discourse. Eastern religions have included both theistic and other alternative positions about the ultimate nature of reality. One such view is Jainism , which holds a dualistic view that all that exists is matter and a multiplicity of souls ( jiva ), without depending on a supreme deity for their existence. There are also different Buddhist views, such as

13160-453: The knowledge of the Unknown . If Reason and God have a happy encounter the individual comes to be a believer. If the collision results in an unhappy encounter the Reason is Offended. The Reason says that the Paradox is absurd and can get no meaning from the encounter. But when "Reason yielded itself while the Paradox bestowed itself, and the understanding is consummated in that happy passion,

13300-422: The learner from the captivity into which he had plunged himself, and no captivity is so terrible and so impossible to break, as that in which the individual keeps himself. And still we have not said all that is necessary; for by his self-imposed bondage the learner has brought upon himself a burden of guilt, and when the Teacher gives him the condition and the Truth he constitutes himself an Atonement , taking away

13440-406: The learner to help the learner forget the misunderstanding. God could show himself to the learner and cause him to forget his Error while contemplating God's presence. Both options are rejected on the basis of equality . How can God make himself equal to man? Only by becoming man himself, but not a king, or a leader of an established order, no, for equality's sake he must become one of the humblest,

13580-419: The learner to learn something. Socrates was such a teacher as this. But what about God? What would be the occasion that moved him to become a Teacher? God is moved by love but his love is unhappy. He wants to make himself understood just like a teacher but He's teaching something that doesn't come to an individual from the known world but from a world that is Unknown. "His love is a love of the learner, and his aim

13720-472: The man who eats little and sees heaven and the man who drinks much and sees snakes. Each is in an abnormal physical condition, and therefore has abnormal perceptions." However, as William L. Rowe notes: The hidden assumption in Russell's argument is that bodily and mental states that interfere with reliable perceptions of the physical world also interfere with reliable perceptions of a spiritual world beyond

13860-424: The mountains tremble at the voice of the God, than to sit at table with him as an equal; and yet it is the God's concern precisely to have it so. Philosophical Fragments p. 27 How many an individual has not asked, “What is truth?” and at bottom hoped that it would be a long time before the truth would come so close to him that in the same instant it would determine what it was his duty to do at that moment. When

14000-419: The nature of religion as a whole, rather than examining the problems brought forth by a particular belief-system . The philosophy of religion differs from theology in that it aims to examine religious concepts from an objective philosophical perspective rather than from the perspective of a specific religious tradition. The philosophy of religion also differs from religious studies in that it seeks to evaluate

14140-529: The one whom he sent, the truth." (John 14:6 The Bible) That is, only then do I in truth know the truth, when it becomes a life in me. Therefore Christ compares truth to food and appropriating it to eating, just as, physically, food by being appropriated (assimilated) becomes the life sustenance, so also, spiritually, truth is both the giver of life and the sustenance of life, is life. Practice in Christianity , Hong 1991 p. 206 But Kierkegaard went deeply into

14280-465: The other has endured, borne, suffered all for the Faith, an outsider cannot get beyond what he says about himself, for a lie can be stretched precisely as far as the truth—in the eyes of men, but not in the sight of God), then he is a fool, and it is essentially indifferent whether he believes on account of his own and perhaps a widely held opinion about what good and upright people believe, or believes

14420-511: The person responsible for publication of Philosophical Fragments , Concluding Unscientific Postscript , The Sickness Unto Death and Practice in Christianity . He also wrote many discourses which he signed with his own name. He began that practice with the writing of Two Upbuilding Discourses in 1843. He divides his book into five major sections: Later, in his Concluding Unscientific Postscript Kierkegaard said "The Issue in Fragments

14560-424: The philosophic-historical use of speculation in regard to Christianity. Schlegel published a book bearing the same title as Kierkegaard's, Philosophical Fragments in 1799. Kierkegaard always wrote a preface signed by the name of the pseudonymous author he was using. He began this practice with his unpublished book Johannes Climacus and continued it throughout his writing career. However, he added his own name as

14700-445: The philosophical thesis that there is no God other than humanity. Spirit, that is, humanity made absolute, is God, which is to say that there is nothing other than humanity … What is left after the philosophical conceptualization of religion? To the orthodox Christian, nothing is left, save some terminology which has been emptied of its traditional significance. From Hegel's gutted Christianity to Heine and Nietzsche 's aesthetic atheism

14840-621: The philosophy of religion as well as in theology . This field draws the historical study of their interactions and conflicts, such as the debates in the United States over the teaching of evolution and creationism . There are different models of interaction that have been discussed in the philosophical literature, including: The field also draws the scientific study of religion, particularly by psychologists and sociologists as well as cognitive scientists. Various theories about religion have arisen from these various disciplines. One example

14980-495: The physical, if there is such a spiritual world to be perceived. Perhaps this assumption is reasonable, but it certainly is not obviously true. In other words, as argued by C.D. Broad , "one might need to be slightly 'cracked ' " or at least appear to be mentally and physically abnormal in order to perceive the supranormal spiritual world. William James meanwhile takes a middle course between accepting mystical experiences as veridical or seeing them as delusional. He argues that for

15120-408: The place of man, and thinks of himself as this other being can and should think of him; he thinks of himself, not with his own thinking power, but with man's. In the scheme of his revelation God must have reference not to himself, but to man's power of comprehension. That which comes from God to man, comes to man only from man in God, that is, only from the ideal nature of man to the phenomenal man, from

15260-512: The proof, i.e., continue to demonstrate, the existence does not come out, if for no other reason than that I am engaged in proving it; but when I let the proof go, the existence is there." (...) "unless we hold fast to the Socratic doctrine of Recollection, and to his principle that every individual man is Man , Sextus Empiricus stands ready to make the transition involved in "teaching" not only difficult but impossible; and Protagoras will begin where Sextus Empiricus leaves off, maintaining that man

15400-529: The question: "what sort of information about what there is might religious experience provide, and how could one tell?" One could interpret these experiences either veridically, neutrally or as delusions. Both monotheistic and non-monotheistic religious thinkers and mystics have appealed to religious experiences as evidence for their claims about ultimate reality. Philosophers such as Richard Swinburne and William Alston have compared religious experiences to everyday perceptions, that is, both are noetic and have

15540-439: The reader with a question, to picture the ideal as a possibility . From Socrates he has learned to keep the reader at a distance, to throw him back on his individual responsibility, to compel him to find his own way to a solution. Kierkegaard does not merely talk about self-reliance; his entire literary art is devoted to the promotion of self-reliance." Jean-Paul Sartre vehemently disagreed with Kierkegaard's subjective ideas. He

15680-408: The relation between faith and reason in relation to Kierkegaard's "Postscript" to this book. just as there is logical truth, opposed to error, and moral truth, opposed to falsehood, so there is also aesthetic truth or verisimilitude, which is opposed to extravagance, and religious truth or hope, which is opposed to the inquietude of absolute despair. For esthetic verisimilitude, the expression of which

15820-402: The same, as if his innermost being were an algebraic symbol that could signify anything whatever it is assumed to be, is that he is in a wrong position, that he has not chosen himself, does not have a concept of it, and yet there is in his folly an acknowledgment of the eternal validity of his personality. But for him who is in a proper position things take another course. He chooses himself-not in

15960-433: The species to the individual. Thus, between the divine revelation and the so-called human reason or nature, there is no other than an illusory distinction; – the contents of the divine revelation are of human origin, for they have proceeded not from God as God, but from God as determined by human reason, human wants, that is, directly from human reason and human wants. And so in revelation man goes out of himself, in order, by

16100-618: The story of Semele who died due to her seeing Zeus and the Biblical story of the Burning bush . Indian texts like the Bhagavad Gita also contain theophanic events. The diversity (sometimes to the point of contradiction) of religious experiences has also been used as an argument against their veridical nature, and as evidence that they are a purely subjective psychological phenomenon. In Western thought, religious experience (mainly

16240-410: The strength of his freedom , since he exists in it without compulsion; and thus his bonds grow strong, and all his powers unite to make him the slave of sin . -- What now shall we call such a Teacher , one who restores the lost condition and gives the learner the Truth? Let us call him Saviour , for he saves the learner from his bondage and from himself; let us call him Redeemer , for he redeems

16380-462: The term "philosophy of religion" for the subject, and typically it is regarded as a separate field of specialization, although it is also still treated by some, particularly Catholic philosophers , as a part of metaphysics. Different religions have different ideas about ultimate reality , its source or ground (or lack thereof) and also about what is the "Maximal Greatness". Paul Tillich 's concept of 'Ultimate Concern' and Rudolf Otto 's ' Idea of

16520-646: The truth of any religious proposition, while a higher order problem instead applies to whether one has rationally assessed the first order evidence. One example of a first order problem is the Argument from nonbelief . Higher order discussions focus on whether religious disagreement with epistemic peers (someone whose epistemic ability is equal to our own) demands us to adopt a skeptical or agnostic stance or whether to reduce or change our religious beliefs. While religions resort to rational arguments to attempt to establish their views, they also claim that religious belief

16660-408: The truth of religious worldviews. It can be carried out dispassionately by those who identify as believers or non-believers. Philosopher William L. Rowe characterized the philosophy of religion as: "the critical examination of basic religious beliefs and concepts." Philosophy of religion covers alternative beliefs about God, gods, demons, spirits or all, the varieties of religious experience ,

16800-409: The ultimate solution to the main problem of human life. These include epistemic , metaphysical and ethical claims. Evidentialism is the position that may be characterized as "a belief is rationally justified only if there is sufficient evidence for it". Many theists and non-theists are evidentialists, for example, Aquinas and Bertrand Russell agree that belief in God is rational only if there

16940-544: The ultimate source of things, instead arguing that the ultimate nature of the Tao is "spontaneous self-production" ( zi sheng ) and "spontaneous self-transformation" ( zi hua ). Traditionally, Jains and Buddhists did not rule out the existence of limited deities or divine beings, they only rejected the idea of a single all-powerful creator God or First cause posited by monotheists. All religious traditions make knowledge claims which they argue are central to religious practice and to

17080-426: The uncertainty of coming into existence. Faith believes what it does not see..." Through the objective uncertainty and ignorance the paradox thrusts away in the inwardness of the existing person. But since the paradox is not in itself the paradox, it does not thrust away intensely enough. For without risk, no faith; the more risk, the more faith. The more objective reliability, the less inwardness (since inwardness

17220-416: The understanding; he cannot reveal to man whatever he will, but only what is adapted to man, what is commensurate with his nature such as it actually is; he reveals what he must reveal, if his revelation is to be a revelation for man, and not for some other kind of being. Now what God thinks in relation to man is determined by the idea of man – it has arisen out of reflection on human nature. God puts himself in

17360-459: The ungenuine", and therefore all that religious experiences can establish is the reality of these psychological states. Naturalistic explanations for religious experiences are often seen as undermining their epistemic value. Explanations such as the fear of death , suggestion , infantile regression , sexual frustration , neurological anomalies ("it's all in the head") as well as the socio-political power that having such experiences might grant to

17500-404: The wise in their foolishness, and Christ imprisoned the questioner in the answer that contained the task. So it is with all Christ’s answers. Søren Kierkegaard, Works of Love p. 96-97 The truth is within me, that is, when I am truly within myself (not untruthfully outside myself), the truth, if it is there, is a being, a life. Therefore it says, "This is eternal life, to know the only true God and

17640-420: The world has always existed and does not believe in creationism or divine providence , while Semitic monotheism believes the world was created by a God at a particular point in time and that this God acts in the world. Indian monotheism teaches that the world is beginningless, but that there is God's act of creation which sustains the world. The attempt to provide proofs or arguments for the existence of God

17780-437: The world. That is because such people are very close to the truth, and they feel the eternal validity of the personality not in its blessing but in its torment, even if they have retained this totally abstract expression for the joy in it; that they prefer to go on being themselves. But the person with many wishes is nevertheless continually of the opinion that he would be himself even if everything were changed. Consequently, there

17920-404: The wrath impending upon that of which the learner has made himself guilty . Such a Teacher the learner will never be able to forget. For the moment he forgets him he sinks back again into himself, just as one who while in original possession of the condition forgot that God exists, and thereby sank into bondage. Philosophical Fragments , Swenson p. 12-13 Now he owes everything to his Teacher but

18060-620: Was Hegelian and had no room in his system for faith. Kierkegaard seemed to rely on faith at the expense of the intellect . He developed the idea of bad faith . His idea is relative to Kierkegaard's idea of the Moment. If a situation (occasion for Kierkegaard) makes an individual aware of his authentic self and the individual fails to choose that self that constitutes bad faith. Sartre was against Kierkegaard's view that God can only be approached subjectively. Walter Lowrie (author) Walter Lowrie (April 26, 1868 – August 12, 1959)

18200-655: Was a Kierkegaardian theologian and translator. He was born in Philadelphia . Lowrie received his B.A. in 1890, and his M.A. in 1893, both from Princeton University . He studied in Germany , Italy , and Switzerland in 1893–1894. Upon his return home he joined the Episcopal Church . Lowrie was ordained deacon on June 9, 1895, and priest on December 27, 1896. From 1896 until 1898, he was curate at St. James Church, Philadelphia. In 1898–1899, and 1900–1903, he

18340-412: Was asking "What is beauty?" Kierkegaard asks, "What is Truth?" Kierkegaard had already asked about truth nine days earlier when he published Three Upbuilding Discourses . A mere four days from the publication of Philosophical Fragments, he published The Concept of Anxiety . Kierkegaard wrote his books in reaction to both Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel as well as

18480-711: Was awarded the Knight Cross of the Order of Dannebrog on July 25, 1947 with the following motivation: "As an appreciation of his extensive efforts to spread the knowledge of the intellectual production of Søren Kierkegaard in the Anglo-Saxon world and, thereby, promoting the general understanding of Danish spiritual life." During his retirement, he traveled and lectured throughout the world. Lowrie died in Princeton , and his wife, Barbara Armour, left his home, now known as

18620-548: Was compiled by Donald M. Fox, and published in 1979. From his retirement in 1930 until his death, Lowrie studied and translated the works of Søren Kierkegaard , the Danish nineteenth-century theologian. From 1939 until 1945, he published twelve volumes of Kierkegaard translations and worked very closely with fellow Kierkegaard translator David F. Swenson , who was working from the University of Minnesota . The Rev. Walter Lowrie

18760-548: Was criticized by his former teacher and pastor Hans Lassen Martensen , he concludes from Kierkegaard's writing, here and in Concluding Unscientific Postscript , that he's saying an individual can be saved without the help of the Church. Martensen believed 19th century Socialism would destroy individuality , but regarded Kierkegaard's emphasis on the single individual as too one-sided. Kierkegaard

18900-420: Was good that the work was a psychological inquiry, which in itself makes clear that sin cannot find a place in the system, presumably just like immortality, faith, the paradox, and other such concepts that essentially related to existing, just what systematic thinking ignores. The expression "anxiety" does not lead one to think of paragraph pomposity but rather of existence inwardness. Just as " fear and trembling "

19040-404: Was responding to Hegelian writers such as Ludwig Feuerbach and David Strauss who emphasized the objective nature of God. God is just man's idea. Man is an object to God, before God perceptibly imparts himself to man; he thinks of man; he determines his action in accordance with the nature of man and his needs. God is indeed free in will; he can reveal himself or not; but he is not free as to

19180-500: Was strongly influenced by the big three monotheistic Abrahamic religions . In the Western world, early modern philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes , John Locke , and George Berkeley discussed religious topics alongside secular philosophical issues as well. The philosophy of religion has been distinguished from theology by pointing out that, for theology, "its critical reflections are based on religious convictions". Also, "theology

19320-399: Was such an existential thinker. … from Socrates he has learned his method of communication, the indirect method. From Socrates he has learned to abstain from giving the reader and objective result to memorize, a systematic scheme for arrangement in paragraphs, all of which is relevant only to objective science , but irrelevant to existential thought. From Socrates he has learned to confront

19460-422: Was the first to translate the book into English in 1936. He called it "Philosophical Chips" in an earlier biography of Kierkegaard published in 1921, and another early translator, Lee Milton Hollander , called it "Philosophic Trifles" in his early translation of portions of Kierkegaard's works in 1923. Kierkegaard hinted that he might write a "sequel in 17 pieces" in his preface. By February 22, 1846, he published

19600-722: Was with the City Mission in Philadelphia. He then served churches in Southwark, Pennsylvania ; Boston, Massachusetts ; and Newport, Rhode Island . From 1907 until 1930, Lowrie was rector of St Paul's American Church in Rome . When he retired in 1930, he returned to Princeton and began what he called an "itinerant ministry." He published 39 books and numerous articles, including The Short Story of Jesus (1943) and Kierkegaard (1938). A Complete Bibliography of Walter Lowrie

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