Granì (Mar 2019)

The ontology of good and evil and the problem of freedom of choice christian philosophical reasoning of S. Kierkegaard

  • G. I. Savonova

DOI
https://doi.org/10.15421/171914
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 22, no. 1
pp. 110 – 116

Abstract

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The article reveals the peculiarity of S. Kierkegaard’s philosophical arguments about the essence of good and evil, the problems of ethical and psychological compression of human existence in transcendence «or-or». The ontology of good and evil is revealed by the philosopher in the problem of freedom as a given and unfreedom as a limitation, when good as God resides in freedom. God does not know unfreedom precisely for his freedom is unrecognized, and this is the greatest punishment for evil. It is noted that a Christian who is an ethical person finds himself in a situation of choice between good and evil, and the hovering of the process of choice in time leads to a choice in unfreedom, which is already sin and evil. The emphasis is placed on the concept of “sin” in the Christian definition of it by S. Kierkegaard, as well as on the problem of «blocking» the choice by fears. The article establishes the connection between sin and fear in the problem of faith and human action. The analysis of differentiation of fear as fear to be oneself and fear not to be oneself is carried out. Fear in philosophy S. Kierkegaard is defined as the psychological problem of choice and the metaphysical essence of evil that experiences fear of good. Evil is afraid of good because it defines it as something that encroaches on the essence of evil – unfreedom. People are afraid of their knowledge of lack of freedom and loss of faith. The question of Christian faith in the metaphysics of freedom of choice is a means of salvation from the demonicness of non-freedom, according to the philosophy of S. Kierkegaard. The loss of faith at any stage of life leads a person to despair. There are two types of despair in the philosophy of S. Kierkegaard: despair to be I and despair not to be I. The article focuses on the problem of sin. The problem of defining sin reveals the meaning of despondency as the beginning of any sin. Discouragement is bound to the darkness of evil, the place of permanent stay restless demoni and eternal falling into the abyss. A disappointed person does not have a point of support for the “leap of faith”, so she seeks comfort in the realization of her desires and the injection of fear. That is why the “leap of faith” from the ethical to the religious person is considered in the article as a way out of the choice between good and evil. The article also provides a brief comparative review of the philosophical arguments Of S. Kierkegaard and existentialist philosophers.

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