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Comparing Kierkegaard's Fear And Trembling

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In Fear and Trembling, essay of Preliminary Expectoration, Kierkegaard writes about those who carry the treasure of faith resembling a bourgeois philistinism. Kierkegaard talks about the knight of infinite resignation and how one is easily recognizable. He argues that infinite resignation is the final stage before faith and if someone has not made this movement, he or she does not have faith. It is only in infinite resignation that one becomes conscious of eternal validity. Kierkegaard sees the knight of infinite resignation as carrying out all the motions and suffering a lot of pain and anxiety. Kierkegaard says this state of mind is just as much a consciousness that is not healthy as the consciousness of the knight of faith. Kierkegaard also …show more content…

This, he says is more important than knowing the facts about God or performing rituals. This is one reason Kierkegaard supports the knight of infinite resignation over that of faith. The knight of faith is also seen as something comfortable but Kierkegaard doesn’t think we should feel so comfortable. The knight of faith seems to jump into the infinite and come back and seems to have no faith, which Kierkegaard is uneasy with. The knight of faith wants the material world to be the way he wants it and remains focused on the fact that he believes in God but is getting it all back. This quote leads the reader to see that Kierkegaard ultimately seems himself more with knight of resignation because he is bothered by the lackadaisical attitude of knight of …show more content…

Descartes talks about God as if God is infinite because he radiates out in every direction. Descartes imagines that he himself is perfect and has the perfect qualities of God. This leads him to the discussion of disobeying God and turning into what one wants rather than what God wants. By doing what oneself wills, not what God wills, one is basically implying the he or she sees him or herself as God-like. Descartes believes he is partially God because he is on his way to infinite knowledge, but since he is gaining little by little, he is in a state of potentiality. Descartes sees this potential progress becoming actuality. He says it is a finite but limited path and that he is in a state of developing towards Him and when God created the world; He had a purpose and an aim. God is outside of time so He is not in a state of potentiality, because potentiality is always in a time and space. This quote introduces the argument of potency versus actuality. Descartes’ comparison of himself to God opens up many other questions that request Descartes attention, and he attempts to reason with the reader in the following explanations. I think therefore I am, translates as I think of God in reality and therefore He is. This introduces the question of whether a universal I can be found. Descartes is able to clarify the true source from which feelings and thoughts can come from, which he says is the I. This

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