Sem. Wayne P.

Roales October 18, 2011

Reflection Paper Final Examination in Contemporary Philosophy I
And No More

Søren Kierkegaard, though cynical and disillusioned as he was before, came up with
ideas that shaped much of our philosophy, living, outlook, and beliefs of today. It’s a bit odd
how a man who has experienced much of the frowned-at-side of life to have come out with such
inputs; he saw farther than others before and after him, what others neglected, especially
nowadays, though a concept like that of old, but different in a way, he thought of God, the
infinite, as where we are to find freedom, but as that which can’t be grasped fully by our mere
reason, but by a leap of faith through an act of the will.

Man has been going on for years, centuries, and who-knows-what, all this time, man has
seen himself as a part of a group. True enough, man is a social being, and cannot live without
others. Kierkegaard on the other hand viewed that man, though in a crowd, must reach into
himself, and view himself not only as a part of a crowd, but as an individual who can make his
own decisions, a person who can commit himself, and not just go on with the flow of the many;
he gave importance to the individual self wherein man realizes his own particularity, his self, that
of a finite and an infinite, that is, as a man and a spirit towards God.

Most of the time, if not at all times, man follows the wield of the majority, and in it man
forms himself, that is, within the society, whether we like it or not, we are all born within a
society, and it has influenced us much, be it for good or for bad. Man is drowned beneath the
waves of the crowd, somehow losing himself in it. We are so focused with that of the many that
we somehow forget who we really are, who each one of us is. Man must find himself…the
individual must find himself first. True enough, ‘I am who I am because of who we all are,’ as
Desmond Tutu once said, as we can never deny the role other people play in our lives, but one
must still see that ‘I’ am who ‘I’ am because of who ‘I’ am, because of how ‘I’ accepted the
ways of others, their actions, their doings, everything around ‘me,’ the will of man has a lot to do
with forming oneself; a man raised in an environment of criminals is more likely to be one in the
future, but he may choose to not be such, though hard, it can be, it’s only a matter of acceptance,
decision making, perseverance, and the will to do it. One may stay where he is, that is, if he lets
those around him sway him off, but one may choose to see himself as a person, as an existing
individual capable of free choice and self-commitment. But I do not say that man must separate
himself from the crowd, man must not go to both extremes; that of the being drowned in the
crowd, and that of isolation, man is not such, there is more to man than the self, and there is more
to man than just being part of an array men, man must see himself as a person, he is what he is
and that there are also others around him, he is not alone, everybody plays a part, one is unique
in his own way, and must find himself, make a choice for the better, and yet not forget that he is
in one with others. Kierkegaard was right on focusing upon man, as man somehow forgets who
he really is, but man is only complete with that of others, on his own man is nothing, man must
find himself, true enough, but man can only find himself completely if he goes back to himself,
goes further more and see how imperfect he is, and then reach out; there is more in man, and
there is also more to man, this too is not that which occurs as time goes on, man makes it so.
Man must make a choice, but not undermine his reason, rather, use it to guide his will, lest he
lives in folly.

Kierkegaard showed three stages in man’s life in his finding of his own worth, that of the
aesthetic, ethical, and religious, explaining that it is not a process of continuous meditation and
that which would come gradually as one goes on, for him, it is a choice that one does, to pass
from one stage to another as one realizes what that stage of life lacks, but that in every stage man
is free so long as he makes the choices, the only flaw is that of despair when one finds out that
there is more to that. Truly, it is such; we make the choices in life, for our advance, and for our
decline. Man searches for meaning of his existence, but more to such, the ‘good,’ he sees it in
pleasure, then finds it not enough; he goes on to moral codes, that of living right, and still he
finds it not enough; he then goes beyond, he finds God, the infinite, unto whom he finds his
authentic existence, but man may choose to remain in any of the lower stages.

Beyond doubt, man is imperfect, and only in God can he find the fullness he seeks, where
else will man go anyway, for if not unto Him, then man’s existence will be of no worth, if there
is nothing more to this life than mere moral codes, laws, rules, and only life in this world itself,
then all is folly.

Kierkegaard believes that we can know nothing about God, as He is infinite and we are
but only finite, that our mere reason can never grasp His, that faith is the only thing we have. In a
way, it is true, as it really is the only thing we have, but there is more in ‘faith’ than what
Kierkegaard defined. Man does not walk in the dark and tries following the unknown, things can
be learned about God, though small, though only a piece of eternity, God left Himself in man,
why then can we know nothing about Him; He created everything, and in His creation He can be
known; He has left a mark in history whereupon those in white and black base their teachings,
such cannot be denied; but all of these are pointless if in the first place we don’t put our faith in
such. Man can know God if only he’ll have faith in Him and in what He has given unto him.

Man’s authentic existence, true enough, can only be truly found in God through a ‘leap of
faith,’ but faith that which is not blind. Man comes to such by making a choice, but not by mere
picking up of whatever is in front, but that which is guided by reason. Somehow, it is really is
but a matter of decision. Man could either complicate himself, or make his life simple; he can
toss himself into an abyss of nothingness, or bring himself up to eternal bliss. Simply, it is ones
choice guided by who he is or what he makes of himself through his acceptance of things, how
he handles himself and other people, his reason, his outlook in life, and his faith in God.

Ones rise and fall, ones meaning in life is found by he who acts, guided by who he is by
reason of what he makes of himself, through his reason and will.