Kierkegaard’s reading of reality

Abstract

This study presents an interpretive understanding of Kierkegaard's perception of reality with respect to the authentic life of the individual living in the context of his own quest for self-realization in relation to eternity. In an effort to make an authentic statement about life, Kierkegaard oscillates in his reflections between a subjective and objective world, real and ideal, current and potential, possible and necessary, in order to grasp the nature of the existence of the individual in time and space. We present here such an interpretive view in which, rather than the alethic or epistemic modality traditionally applied to the hermeneutics of Kierkegaard's writings, an approach is offered according to which reality as an enigmatic entity emerges in time and space and man grasps it in his consciousness, so as to reflect it in terms, imaginary concepts and then communicated it to his surroundings. The horizontal aspect of all human contexts of philosophy, language, ethics and culture Kierkegaard intersects with its only vertical aspect and that is the absolute paradox – God in time.