Volume : 5 | Issue : 4 | April 2016 ISSN - 2250-1991 | IF : 5.215 | IC Value : 77.

65

Research Paper Education

The Educational Philosophy of Soren Kierkgaard: The

Origin Of Existentialism”

Ms. Shalika Sharma Assistant Professor, CTITR. CT Group of Institutions, Maqsudan.

Ms. Salony
Assistant Professor, CTITR. CT Group of Institutions, Maqsudan.
Marwaha
Soren Kierkgaard is the first pioneer of “existentialist”. In addition to being dubbed “the father of existentialism” Kierkegaard
is best known as a sarcastic critic of Hegel and Hegelian-ism and for his invention of an array of philosophical, theological,
psychological, and literary categories, including: anxiety, despair, melancholy, repetition, acquaintance, irony, existential
ABSTRACT

stages, Christian enigma, the ludicrous, forgery, universal/exception, sacrifice, love as a duty, seduction, and indirect
communication. Do we have a value? Do we pursue personal happiness in life? These are the questions from existentialism.
The dictionary defines existentialism as an individual’s experience filled with isolation in an inimical universe where a human
being attempts to find true self and the meaning of life through personal responsibility, free will, and choice. Existentialism
deals with genuineness of experience; personal concern; commitment and uniqueness of the individual. Existentialism is an
important theory to consider in achieving the Good Life.

KEYWORDS Existentialism, Essence, Existence, Subjectivity, Aesthetic

Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), the renowned philosopher, try to make rational and logic decisions despite existing in an
was many things: journalist, psychologist, religious writer, sat- irrational universe. It focuses on the question of human endur-
irist, literary critic and categorized as the ‘father’ of existen- ance, and the feeling that there is no ambition or explanation
tialism. He described the dilemma of the individual man with at the core of existence. It holds that, as there is no God or
fervent psychological insight. The best aim in life is “to be any other uncanny force, the only way to counter this noth-
that which one truly is”, according to him. He is taken as the ingness (and hence to find meaning in life) is by embracing
main founder of existentialism .He was a profoundly religious existence. The meaning of human existence is that it is man’s
man holding out that man must accept the existence of God nature to exist, to stand out in reality. Thus, Existentialism be-
by faith even it is difficult to uphold by reason. Kierkegaard lieves that individuals are entirely free and must take personal
believed in a Creator, and in Christianity. He criticized the as- responsibility for themselves.
pects of philosophical systems that were brought by Hegel,
Wilhelm. He measured himself along with the model of phi- ETYMOLOGICAL MEANING:
losophy which he identified in Socrates, which aims to draw The term ‘existence’ derives its lexical meaning from two Ger-
one’s attention not to explanatory systems, but rather to the man words -: ‘ex-sis tent’ meaning which stands out, and
issues of how one exists. ‘emerges’ suggests that existentialism is a philosophy that
emerges out of problems of life.
Themes in Kierkegaard’s Thought: The Three Stages
Kierkegaard’s laudable question was always “What ought EXISTENTIALISM DEFINED:
I do?” His most famous answer to the question turns on a Various definitions of existentialism have been proposed by
three-fold distinction of stages on life’s way: different authors.

•THE AESTHETIC the quest for sensual and intellectual pleas- Blackham (1952) has described existenalism as a philosophy of
ure. This eventually leads to apathy and then suicide, however, being “a philosophy of attestation and acceptance, and a re-
so there is an impulse to move to a form of life in which there fusal of the attempt to rationalize and to think Being.”
is a conception of oughtness.
The peculiarity of existentialism, according to Blackham is
•The MORAL in which we freely align ourselves with the mor- that, “it deals with the separation of man from himself and
al law, determined to be good. Hegel tried to symphonize the from the world, which raises the question of philosophy not
ethical life and the esthetic life but this is actually the high- by attempting to establish some universal form of justification
est form of aestheticism. Kierkegaard wrangled that a leap is which will enable man to readjust himself but by permanent-
involved in moving from one to the other and that we must ly enlarging and lining the separation itself as primordial and
simply choose. constitutive for personal existence.”

•The RELIGIOUS in which we must be open to a purposeful Harries and Levey’s (1975) defined existentialism as “any of
latency of the ethical. In the religious life, divine command is several philosophic systems, all centered on the individual and
paramount and ardor for God is revealed in the compliance to his relationship the universe or to God.” 
set aside moral habits and respond to the divine command.
Tiryakian (1962) defines it as “an attempt to reaffirm the im-
EXISTENTIALISM portance of the individual by rigorous and in many respects
Existentialism commenced with the 19th Century philosophers radically new analysis of the nature of man.”
Soren Kierkgaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Existentialism is
more a reaction against traditional philosophies. Existential- In the opinion presented here, existentialism is a humanistic
ism is a philosophy that encompasses the worth of individual perspective on the individual situation, a philosophy of exist-
existence being the ultimate, a freedom and choice. It is of ence, of being, of authenticity and of universal freedom. It is
the view that humans define their own meaning in life, and a quest, beyond despair, for creative identity. It is the philoso-

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Volume : 5 | Issue : 4 | April 2016 ISSN - 2250-1991 | IF : 5.215 | IC Value : 77.65

phy that is a counselor in crisis, “a crisis in the individual’s life, 6. The existentialism curriculum is composed of fine arts,
which calls upon him to make a ‘choice’ regarding his subse- drama, creative expression, literature and philosophy.
quent existence.” 7. The teacher holds a pivotal place here. He cultivates in-
dividual growth. He can expedite development of origi-
FUNDAMENTALS OF EXISTENTIALISM: nality and creativity by providing an atmosphere to make
1. For the existentialist Reality is ‘Being’ or ‘existence of an skills and tools explorable. The teacher plays the role of
individual’. a questioner; poser of alternatives; identifier of choices
2. Existentialism wants man to be without metaphysics. who challenges learners to become fully existent.
3. They wish to reinstate the status of man which he has 8. Democracy must be in the soil in which an individual
lost in this advanced technological and mechanized so- grows. Self-governance, pupil participation and encour-
ciety. agement of liberal climate should characterize education-
4. Man is not man but humanity. It means that each man’s al institute. Teachers should stop labeling the students
actions are subjectively inspired and influenced by other
people. REFERENCES
5. The existentialists assert that the person’s mind is the 1. Black ham, H.J. (1953). Six Existentialist Thinkers. London: Rout ledge and
source and entity of all knowledge. Kegan Paul, Macmillan Co., p.150.
6. Valuable knowledge is of importance for individuals. 2. Broudy, H.S.(1961). Kierkegaard on Indirect Communication. The Journal
7. They do not believe in unabridged values. They argue of Philosophy,58 (9),225-233.
that as long as the pragmatic vigor remains alive, it must 3. Emmet, D.M. (1941). Kierkegaard and the existential philosopy.
remain open to rectifications and hence it cannot stand Vol.16,No.63, pp 257-271.Cambridge.U.K:Cambridge University Press.
by the fixed values. 4. Gutek, Gerald L.(2009).New Perspectives on Philosophy and Education. New
8. Values should be initiated by our free decisions. Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
9. Freedom is the begetter of eventual values. 5. Harris W.H. and Levey, J.S. (Eds.) (1975). The New Columbia Encyclopedia.
10. The prominence on ‘personal existence’ and perspicacity Columbia University Press, New York, p. 911.
in existentialism has led stress on man’s freedom, choice 6. Heidegger. (1949).‘Existence and Being.’ London: Vision Press. p .368
and action. 7. Jean Wahl. (1949). ‘A Short History of Existentialism’, phil. Library: N.Y, 30.
11. Freedom is the crude matter of ‘his being’. Man has an 8. Matustik, M.J and M. Westphal (eds.) (1995). Kierkegaard in Post/Moder-
accountability of ‘his being’ to freedom, which is the ba- nity. Indiana. University Press, ISBN 0-253-20967-6.
sis of all human activity. 9. Ruggeiro. (1946) : ‘Existentialism’ (ed.) Happen Stall, Editor’s Introduction, p.
12. The idea of death should be accepted gracefully. 17, Seeker and Warburg, London.
13. A person lives before he dies. Until a person dies he can 10. Sarte, Jean Paul. (1940). Existentialism and Human Emotions. New York:
always modify his character by doing good things and George Putnam Sons.
then he will die a noble death. Thus, it is said existence 11. Sontag F. (1979). A Kierkegaard Handbook. Atlanta, G.A: John knox press.
precedes essence.
14. Even if God exists, there would be no adaptation for a
man who needs to know that nothing can save him from
himself, not even the reliable evidence of the existence
of God.
15. Human development act as independent variable among
all the external forces, escorted by the innovative forces
of the indispensable self. It is the enlargement that is a
self-directed amalgam of self-doomed ardor, potential,
craving and needs.
16. The individual has liberty of choice, which makes him dy-
namic in nature. This freedom helps with the self-emerg-
ing process.
17. Identification and aegis gained at the cost of freedom
comprise bad faith. Likewise, to question the dynamic
nature of the personality is an act of bad faith.
18. The individual relates to others and to the processes of
being and becoming by the unique subjective style of de-
velopment.
19. “The individuality of man is of supreme value. It is very
close to the individual life of man.

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF EXISTENTIALISM

1. Education is the means by which an individual realizes
the best that he is capable of. The most important aim
in education is to become a human being who lives and
makes decisions about what he will do and be.
2. The aim of education is to help students comprehend and
acknowledge themselves as unique individuals who ac-
cept complete responsibility of their thoughts, feelings
and actions.
3. The institution should provide an atmosphere where the
individuals develop in a healthy way. In such an atmos-
phere the young people become active, trustworthy and
responsible. Encouragement and acceptance by teachers,
fosters sense of security and faith.
4. Any subject in the curriculum can present existential sit-
uations for the growth and teaching of human beings.
Students are afforded with great latitude in their choice
of subject matter.
5. The humanities are given emphasis to provide students
with vicarious experiences that will help unleash their
own creativity and self-expression.

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