eference to ONE of the following philosophers, outline how they link their analysis of the human person with religion/God: Kierkegaard, Marcel, Bultmann, Jaspers, Macquarrie or Westphal.
Every being has a self, which is the “conscious synthesis of infinitude and finitude that relates itself to itself.” The self can only reach its full potential through a relationship with God (Kierkegaard, Hong and Hong, 2013, p.3), up until this point the self is in despair, which is written into human existence, whether an individual consciously knows it or not. This is due to the fact humanity is finite and has no predetermination; therefore, life is meaningless. However, Kierkegaard encourages beings to take a leap of faith into Christianity as a way of solving the problem of despair because religion offers relief from the psychological effects of existence. But, in order to achieve a relationship with God one must undergo a process of self development by experiencing the three stages of life that Kierkegaard outlines: aesthetic, ethical and religious (Soccio, 1995, p.417).
The first stage is the aesthetic stage in which an individual is primarily
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In Kierkegaard’s ‘Fear and Trembling,’ he uses the example of human sacrifice, which is justified in regard to how it benefits society: Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter to the Greek Gods, although it displeases Agamemnon, it is for the greater good of society; therefore, Agamemnon complies with the order of the Gods (Kierkegaard, Evans and Walsh, 2006, p.69). A parallel to this is the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham (Genesis 22), which Kierkegaard also mentions in ‘Fear and Trembling.’ This stage of life still allows an individual to experience personal enjoyment, but it is caused by the happiness of others; therefore, the enjoyment is different from the excitement felt in the aesthetic