scholarly journals Disability, Anthropology, and Flourishing with God: A Kierkegaardian Account

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
Joshua Cockayne

How can the writings of Søren Kierkegaard address contemporary issues in the theology of disability? For while it is surely true that Kierkegaard had ‘no concept of “disability” in the contemporary sense’ of the term, I will argue that there is much in Kierkegaard’s writings that addresses issues related to disability. I begin by exploring Kierkegaard’s discussion of suffering and its application to disability theology. I argue that while this has some application, it doesn’t get to the heart of the issue, since a theology of disability must address more than the issue of suffering. Instead, I argue, we should look to Kierkegaard’s anthropology because it is here that we find a vision of what it is to be truly human, and, therefore, how we might understand what it means for those with disabilities to be truly human. To do this, I outline the account of the human being as spirit in The Sickness Unto Death, noting its inability to include certain individuals with severe cognitive disabilities. A straightforward reading of Sickness suggests that Kierkegaard would think of those with cognitive disabilities as similar to non-human animals in various respects. Noting the shortcomings of such an approach, I then offer a constructive amendment to Kierkegaard’s anthropology that can retain Kierkegaard’s concern that true human flourishing is found only in relationship with God. While Kierkegaard’s emphasis on teleology can be both affirming and inclusive for those with disability, I argue that we need to look to Kierkegaard’s account of ‘neighbor’ in Works of Love to overcome the difficulties with his seemingly exclusive anthropology.

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Kamila Fernanda Barbosa Sampaio ◽  
Leonardo Silva Sousa

Resumo: O objetivo do artigo é analisar o exercício da singularidade a partir de Abraão, o “cavaleiro da fé” de Temor e Tremor. Ao aceitar o sacrifício como prova de fé, Abraão encontra a angústia, o desespero e o paradoxo. No entanto, o cavaleiro da fé, mantem-se perseverante em sua caminhada, estabelecendo uma relação absoluta com o Absoluto. O objetivo deste trabalho consiste em compreender a jornada de Abraão como um exercício do ser humano pela busca por uma existência singular e autêntica, capaz de desafiar a angústia, o sofrimento e a dor, situações que não podem ser ignoradas pelo homem.Palavras-chave: Søren Kierkegaard. Cavaleiro da fé. Angústia. Dor. Abstract: This paper aims to analyze the exercise of the singularity from Abraham, the "knight of faith" of fear and trembling. By accepting the sacrifice as proof of faith, Abraham finds the anguish, the despair and the paradox. However, the knight of faith, stands firm in his walk, establishing an absolute relationship with God. The objective of this study is to understand Abraham's journey as an exercise of the human being in search of a unique and authentic existence, capable of defying anguish, suffering and pain, situations that cannot be ignored by man.Key-words: Søren Kierkegaard. Knight of faith. Anxiety. Pain REFERÊNCIASFARAGO, France. Compreender Kierkegaard. Tradução de Ephraim F. Alves. Petrópolis: Vozes, 2006.GOUVÊA, Ricardo Quadros. A palavra e o silêncio: Kierkegaard e a relação dialética entre razão e fé. São Paulo: Fonte editorial, 2009.GRAMMONT, Guiomar de. Don Juan, Fausto e o Judeu Errante em Kierkegaard. Petrópolis: Catedral das Letras, 2003.KIERKEGAARD, Søren-Aabye. Temor e Tremor. In: Os pensadores. Tradução de Maria José Marinho. São Paulo: Abril Cultural, 1979a._______. O desespero Humano (Doença até a morte).In: Os pensadores. Tradução de Adolfo Casais Monteiro. São Paulo: Abril Cultural, 1979b._______. O conceito de angústia. Tradução de Álvaro Luiz de Montenegro Valls. 2° ed. Petrópolis: Vozes, 2010. (Pensamento Humano)._______. Ponto de vista explicativo da minha obra de escritor. Tradução de João Gama. Lisboa: Edições 70, 1986.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-164
Author(s):  
Thomas Park

AbstractIn Fear and Trembling Kierkegaard (alias Johannes de Silentio) writes that Abraham intended to sacrifice Isaac for God’s sake as well as for his own sake. Drawing mainly on The Sickness unto Death I will argue that Kierkegaard construes Abraham as becoming a true self, that is, as someone who becomes self-transparent before God. What this means and how our relationship with God is supposed to be involved in the process of becoming a self is the focus of my paper. While various articles have been written on that topic, my aim here is to give the most charitable interpretation of Kierkegaard’s theses and the theological concepts involved.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-288
Author(s):  
Sabine Ackermann

AbstractAlthough people have established rules to secure their life and values, they seem to search—and to have searched, time and again, in the past—for exceptions to those rules, and this for different purposes. The article compares two concepts of exception, suggested by Kierkegaard in Fear and Trembling and by Garve in his Treatise on the Connection between Moral and Politics, respectively. A systematic-critical analysis shows certain intersections between their specific ways of handling the proposed exception. Garve’s concept of exception requires an original status naturalis between countries to increase happiness, and this is claimed by an established sovereign ruling with trust in God for his people. By contrast, the exception of Kierkegaard’s teleological suspension of the ethical turns out, precisely by being based on an individual’s relationship with God, to be incommensurable with purportedly universal social, ethical and political standards. This notwithstanding, both conceptions build on the notion of a human existence, which is subject to and ultimately dependent upon no one except the immortal God.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-62
Author(s):  
Ag Efendi Darmanto ◽  
Don Bosco Karnan Ardijanto

Prayer was very important in Jesus’ life and the saints’ lives. Prayer also becomes the important need in the faithfuls’ life. Prayer is a mean to fight againts the devil and the power of sin. Prayer is also an expression of faith in God. It also becomes the way of human being to always remember to God. There are some problems: what is prayer? How do the Catholic teens of St. Hilarius’ Parish, Klepu pray together? What kind of benefits of praying together for the Catholic Teens in St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu? What kind of impedements in praying together that the Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ Parish experience? The aims of this research are: to clarify the definition of prayer, to explain how the Catholic Teens of Hilarius’ parish, Klepu to do their praying together, to explain the benefits of prayer together for the Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu. Finally, to identify various factors that supporting or inhibiting the practice of prayer of the Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu. This research used qualitative research methods. In this study there are 10 respondents consisting of 4 male respondents and 6 female respondents. They are between 13-15 years old. They are members of St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu. The conclusions of the research are: 1) The Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu know the understanding of prayer. 2) The Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ parihs, Klepu already carry out prayers in certain times either personally or communal prayer in St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu. 3) The Catholic Teens of St. Hilarius’ parish, Klepu understand that the benefits of communal prayer are: creating a partnership or relationship with God and friends, as well as the means to develop their personality.


Author(s):  
Corneliu C. Simuț

Slavoj Žižek’s philosophy spans over more than three decades, which is confirmed by the numerous books he published since the late 1980s. Since his thinking about the idea of logos is no exception, this article focuses on what can be termed Žižek’s early philosophy, and especially that depicted in his The sublime object of ideology (1989) and The metastases of enjoyment (1994). Whilst the former underlines the psychological aspects of the logos, the latter focuses more on theories about being, as well as on theological considerations. This is why, three uses of the logos were identified in Žižek’s thought: psychological, ontological and theological, all three with a clear focus on the human being as conceived in modern thought, which for Žižek seems to be utterly opposed to traditional thinking about man and his relationship with God. It is clear from Žižek that whilst the notion of God does appear in this thought, it only refers to the human being which encapsulates the essence of Žižek’s philosophy to the point that the logos itself is a fundamental feature of the human being’s material existence in the natural world. Regardless of whether the logos points to psychology, ontology or divinity (theology), it always emerges as an idea which centres on the human being, with a special interest in how it exists as well as how it works in the world.


Author(s):  
Douglas J. Den Uyl ◽  
Douglas B. Rasmussen

This chapter argues against the claim advanced by Daniel Haybron, Daniel C. Russell, and Mark LeBar that human self-perfection is ultimately based on notions of well-being and human flourishing that we bring to our understanding of human nature and in favor of the idea that it is human nature itself that ultimately grounds our understanding of human well-being or human flourishing. In doing so, the question of whether there is some gap between (a) what it is to be a good human being and (b) what is good for a human being is addressed. It is shown that the arguments on behalf of a such a gap fail and that the version of perfectionism that is advanced—that is, individualistic perfectionism—is ideally suited to not only avoid such a gap but also to display their unity, especially when perfection is understood as a process of living things and not as some cosmic or metaphysical process.


2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darryl Wooldridge

Although the present article stands alone, it is a continuation of ‘Living in the not-yet’ (published in vol. 71, issue 1 of HTS). Both articles are derivatives of a larger study that discusses God as the centre of an often inarticulate and inchoate but innate human desire and pursuit to enjoy and reflect the divine image (imago Dei) in which every human being was created. The current article sets forth foundational considerations and speaks to the ineffaceable drive within humans to find God. It is a reciprocated drive – a response to God who first sought and continues to seek humans – a correlate and concomitant seeking in response to God. Although surely not the final word, this article discusses God as spirit and spiritual, by whom human beings have been created as imago Dei or God’s self-address, showing God’s heart as toward his creation, and humans most especially. Also discussed here is that humans are destined to join the perichoretic relationship that God has enjoyed from eternity. Moreover, in his ascension and glory, Jesus sends the Spirit of adoption into creation so that human creation might enter this same perichoretic relationship with God.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-91
Author(s):  
Shelomita Selamat

Kierkegaard emphasis the importance of each individual being an authentic person. In his works, he gives an overview and direction to become an authentic person. Realizing whether someone authentically is not easy. Nowadays, I see many Christians who do not really live their lives as a Christian. The focus of this research is to present Kierkegaard's view on the criteria of an authentic Christian. The method used is a critical reading analysis of Kierkegaard's works (particularly Purity of Heart and The Sickness unto Death), previous research studies, observations, and interviews with several individuals. The author finds six criteria about authentic Christian individuals, namely: (1) Living in repentance, (2) Personal relationship with God, (3) Fear of God, (4) Willingness to suffer, (5) Being a loving person, and (6) Living in silence.


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