Дискурс (Jun 2023)
Søren Kierkegaard’s “Man in Search of God” as a Cultural and Anthropological Type
Abstract
Introduction. This article attempts to present Søren Kierkegaard’s “man in search of God” as a cultural and anthropological type of a person that shapes their self-cognition independently in the dimension of their existence.Methodology and sources. The following sources are referred to in this article: “Fear and Trembling” and “The Gospel of Sufferings” by Søren Kierkegaard; works of ante-revolutionary and modern Russian authors L.I. Shestov, N.A. Berdyaev, B.E. Bykhovsky, P.P. Gidenko, S.S. Khoruzhy, E.N. Levicheva, V.A. Podoroga, V.D. Gubin, L.A. Klyukina; texts by researchers foreign to Russia, such as U. Hubben, T.V. Schitsova. To research and describe the experience of a person’s self-actualization in Kierkegaard’s “movement of faith”, the ideas of M.K. Mamardashvili’s phenomenological approach have been employed.Results and discussion. This article demonstrates that it is not faith but search for faith that is the aim of Kierkegaard’s philosophy and meaning of his existence. This is because only in the “movement of faith” is a person able to actualize their inner self in their outer self, or face their own self that searches for God. For Kierkegaard, the example of this is Jesus Christ. With the help of Christ as symbol, a person is capable of comprehending the soul’s immortality as the metaphysical dimension of a human being.In the context of Mamardashvili’s phenomenological approach, the author of this articles shows that understanding Christ as the symbol of a person’s self-actualization and selffulfillment can be interpreted as the experience of distinguishing between the symbols of time and infinity in consciousness. This very reality of distinguishing between time and infinity and having to choose between them is referred to in this article as “dynamic infinity”, which is equivalent to Kierkegaard’s notions of “movement of faith” and “moment”.Conclusion. The author concludes that in post-modern world, when a typical person is experiencing acutely the loss of fundamental autonomous individuality while the erosion of personal origin in culture is leading to dehumanization and disintegration of society, Søren Kierkegaard’s “man in search of God” can become a reference point for developing an individual thinking and integral personality.
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