Kierkegaard explores the relationship between freedom and authority, and whether it is possible to be fully obedient to God. He uses the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac to illustrate the dilemma of balancing one's own will with obedience to a higher power. While Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac seems extreme, it demonstrated his absolute commitment to faith in God over his own desires. Ultimately, existentialists argue that living with uncertainty and without clear answers is what requires faith and gives life purpose.
Kierkegaard explores the relationship between freedom and authority, and whether it is possible to be fully obedient to God. He uses the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac to illustrate the dilemma of balancing one's own will with obedience to a higher power. While Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac seems extreme, it demonstrated his absolute commitment to faith in God over his own desires. Ultimately, existentialists argue that living with uncertainty and without clear answers is what requires faith and gives life purpose.
Kierkegaard explores the relationship between freedom and authority, and whether it is possible to be fully obedient to God. He uses the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac to illustrate the dilemma of balancing one's own will with obedience to a higher power. While Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac seems extreme, it demonstrated his absolute commitment to faith in God over his own desires. Ultimately, existentialists argue that living with uncertainty and without clear answers is what requires faith and gives life purpose.
In Existentialism, Basic Writings, Guignon and Pereboom initiate by
introducing Kierkegaard and his studies regarding the authority that God, or an Absolute power, has over each of us and how an individual may be expected to act in the eyes of various standpoints. urthermore, their descriptions proceed to describe a multitude of ethical dilemmas and even go on to describe paradoxes such as despair and existing, whether in or potentially out of one!s self " whatever that word even means. Initially, in order to figure out Kierkegaard!s references and the lessons behind the story of Abraham and Isaac, I first attempted to ask myself what authority may be considered. rom existentially thinking that I am entirely self"aware and am living a self"controlled existence, I can!t help but to wonder whether the concept of #authority! is some sort of threat to freedom. If the only authority one is supposed to answer to is him, why should anything be up to the $urisdiction of others% &his is not to say that one should go throughout life living in some type of destructive manner or promote anarchism' however, when it comes to believing in some sort of higher power, how may one (xistentially find a balance or golden mean between freedom and being limited by the authoritative supervision of a God% )an one ever be absolutely accepting and all"following of a God% According to Kierkegaard, as well as the additional opinions of Guignon and Pereboom, there has to be a certain lifestyle one must maintain in order to definitely say that he*she is absolutely following God " one that is impossible to achieve. &his +absolute duty, comes from ensuring that, much like in Abraham!s situation, the ethical dilemmas are seen as relative, and that one must look at circumstances in the eyes of the bigger picture, in the responsibility for all of his*her existence in the eyes of God. Abraham!s actions seemed ludicrous to those around him, and may even seem appalling, as Guignon and Pereboom state, to anyone living in contemporary times. In asking to sacrifice his son, God is being rather despicable. -&his also con$ured thoughts of the .ob /ylan song, +0ighway 12 3evisited,, which references the same story*ideas. God is demanding and backhandedly tyrannical about his reign, and it shows the dilemma in trying to be true and free to one!s self but simultaneously trying to appease what!s supposed to be an +all"loving, God.4 0owever, by Abraham taking the brash initiative to trust God!s authority, he is proving his duty to be absolute. 5hether this can be accomplished by anyone living contemporarily is certainly 6uestionable, but when it comes down to it, that is the mindset that must be maintained. 7ubse6uently, I believe that Kierkegaard is rational in the same way that all of life and existence seems to also be, in that his rationality is shown through his irrationality " even if it is apparently feigned in the midst of some of his works. 0e argues against the traditional, rational thought in saying that faith does not exist to contradict rational thought or action but rather, it supersedes it. 5hen an individual chooses to place his*her beliefs in faith, it is not denying the reality of everything, all of the conventions and realities held in the world, but it is simply prioriti8ing the existence of the bigger picture, the end result, and a higher power over what is currently being experienced in the universal self. )onclusively, Pereboom and Guignon end the section of Kierkegaard appropriately by finali8ing that truth, existence, and most especially faith, are all a gamble. In order to maintain faith but also hope to live in a purposeful way " to seek ultimate, absolute truth " one must acknowledge that existence and living may be a gamble. .ecause there is no final answer to what may become of anyone throughout life, one must constantly hold the idea of uncertainty in the front of his*her mind, and this is what leads to the security of faith and beliefs. As Guignon and Pereboom state, +5ithout risk there is no faith,, -9:.4 &hroughout existence, faith exists because there is uncertainty and vice versa. ;verall, an absolute duty may not be any sort of $ustification, for one must act in some sort of way that displays his*her free will and conscious ability to choose as a human individual. 5hen one reali8es that his actions must be for ones self, it is then when the inward passion grows and one can develop some sort of faith to experience about life.