Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
¶ … Knight of Faith' and the 'Knight of Infinite Resignation' in Soren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling? Please include a discussion of Abraham's silence.
Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Philippians 1:7-3
Soren Kierkegaard's philosophical classic Fear and Trembling tells the story of Abraham and Isaac from the Old Testament in a series of versions. The book begins in a poetic form, showing a selection of snapshots of the patriarch, viewed in different ways from the pseudonymous author of the work 'Silent John'. Kierkegaard, in the authorial guise of 'silent John' interprets the story of Abraham and Isaac from a Protestant and Christian perspective as a tale of the value of Faith rather than Jewish nation building, as is evident from the title, which is taken from one of the Pauline epistles. However, the faith exhibited by Abraham over the course is not that of one of sadness, but of joy. Thus, in Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard creates a fundamental contrast between a 'Knight of Faith,' whom he admits is a man such as himself, and the far greater 'Knight of Infinite Resignation,' of which Abraham was one, the true Abraham unlike the sad visions of Abraham that begin the text in the imagination of the philosopher. In contrast to the 'Knight of Faith,' who obeys God, sacrifices Isaac but fears God's wrath and will and dwells with the pain of the loss of the beloved firstborn, the second, true Abraham who is the 'Knight of Infinite Resignation' obeys God in action but knows in his heart that...
This refers to the fact that, because it is God's request, Abraham does an action that he knows is wrong. Kierkegaard stresses that merely because God tells Abraham to do something, this does not make the sacrifice of Isaac right. Rather, Abraham agrees to sacrifice his own morality because of his absolute trust, faith, and resignation in the will and the goodness of God. This level of trust is absurd, of course. How will the murder be prevented? But it is also absurd that God would give Isaac to Abraham and Sarah, long after the two were too old to have children. As Abraham trusted in God's absurdity before when God gave Isaac to him, so must he, the 'Knight of Infinite Resignation' resign himself to the will of God when he does not like the absurdity of the request God gives, and obey with trust in God's action. A bitter 'Knight of Faith' might grit his teeth, obey God, all the while raging to himself -- why force the father to brutally sacrifice the son, after Abraham has sacrificed so much to bring the young man into being? But Abraham is silent as he rides obediently next to Isaac because he trusts that he will receive it all back. His trust based on the strength of the absurd, based on his absolute trust in God.
This is what for Kierkegaard…
Works Cited
Kierkegaard, Sonen. Fear and Trembling. 1843.
Genesis." From Oxford Annotated Bible. New Edition 1999.
Kierkegaard "Fear and Trembling" Kierkegaard Before we actually move on to Kierkegaard's book and debate about his claim in this book, a brief about Kierkegaard's work would be appropriate that could help us in understanding it better. Known as the "father of existentialism," Kierkegaard's works have been profound, intellectually sound and highly artistic. His works have not been just focused on one or more subjects rather his idea cover and transcend many
E., they became helpless). Furthermore, other behaviors of the dogs were adversely affected (e.g., the dogs appeared apathetic and had poor appetites) (Hitzemann, 2000). In his essay, "Animal Models of Psychiatric Disorders and Their Relevance to Alcoholism," Hitzemann (2000) reports that, "Both fear and anxiety are alerting signals that warn the individual against impending danger and enable the individual to take defensive measures. For animals, the distinctions between fear and
(It will be recalled that Wright's then unpublished Lawd Today served as a working model for The Outsider.) Cross, in his daily dealings with the three women and his fellow postal workers feel something akin to nausea. His social and legal obligations have enslaved him. He has inherited from his mother a sense of guilt and foreboding regarding his relationship to women and his general awareness of amoral physical
British colonizers took a different approach as compared to Dutch and French settlers in America. The former actively pursued their apparent "God-given" power to carry out farming, fishing and hunting activities within Native Americans' lands and water resources. Chesapeake and Middle Colonies The region lying between the Chesapeake (i.e., Virginia and Maryland) and the New England colonies encompassed New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware (i.e., "middle colonies") which were formerly Dutch
Abrahamic Faith True Power: An Examination of Abrahamic Faith There are several aspects of Abrahamic faith that are admirable and are worthy of commendation. Author Soren Kierkegaard details many of these notions in his manuscript Fear and Trembling, which is a fairly exhaustive analysis of Abraham's actions, hypothetical possibilities of courses of actions he could have taken, and interpretations of both. In fact, one of the principle characteristics of Abrahamic faith that
Kierkegaard often disguised his own authorship by adopting multiple pseudonyms and plural viewpoints that were, on the surface, often contrary to his beliefs. For instance, he begins Fear and Trembling by taking his own position, that of the fearful Abraham, the resigned knight, to contrast his own, modern perspective with the perspective of the good, resigned knight of faith Abraham, who sets out to sacrifice Isaac with a quiet