Kierkegaard, the Spirit of Time and the Individual: Implications for Clinical Psychology

Myriam Moira Protasio

doi:10.11648/j.jher.20180403.11

Abstract

The aim is to analyze how Soren Kierkegaard, by the voice of his pseudonym “A”, in the chapter the tragic in ancient drama reflected in the tragic in modern drama from Either-Or. Part I, discusses time and the individual, namely by contrasting Zeitgeist, as the spirit of time, and Zeitgeist, as the spirit in time in his presentation of two existential situations of Antigone, namely, the modern character he creates and the Greek character. Kierkegaard claims that the lamentations of the modern Antigone show less sorrow but more pain than the classical Antigone. This difference allows him to posit modern spirit as ready for reflection and in tension with the ancient spirit which is more prone to action. Hence, the tension between the ancient tragic and the modern tragic keeps the universal character without abandoning the individual and, thus, brings to light the individual in history, and this is exactly what is enhanced in this article as of great interest for psychologists, in particular, in clinical existential practice. After an introduction mapping the question, there follow 4 sections focused on the spirit of time, the tragic, Antigone, and Antigone and the spirit of time; and, finally, section 5 presenta the final conclusions, focusing on the relevance of the discussion of the idea of the spirit of the time, and of Kierkegaard’s questioning of this idea, for psychology.

Highlights

The point of departure for the present research is a chapter of Either-Or
The objective of this study was to bring to the discussion the historical issue, a central theme in the nineteenth century, as discussed by Kierkegaard who addresses the subject by focusing on the tension between the ancient tragic and the modern tragic, keeping the universal character without abandoning the individual and, bringing to light the individual in history
The question posed concerned the reasons why psychology students are interested in the theme of the spirit of time (Zeitgeist)

Summary

Introduction

The point of departure for the present research is a chapter of Either-Or. Part I, a text from 1843 signed by pseudonym “A”, entitled The tragic in ancient drama reflected in the tragic in modern drama [1, 2, 3, 4] and the concept of Zeitgeist (spirit of time), as used by thinkers of the 19th century. Myriam Moira Protasio et al.: Kierkegaard, the Spirit of Time and the Individual: Implications for Clinical Psychology individual who exists here and and for whom existence matters, not as an abstraction, but as a life that needs to be lived every single day. This is a very pertinent point for the contemporary discussion concerning human existence and has deserved the attention of philosophers and students of philosophy, and of psychologists who focus on human existence as a field of possibilities and where the old and the modern are always in tension. In the final remarks of this article, the relevance of this tension for the psychological clinical practice is highlighted

Kierkegaard and the Spirit of Time

Johannes Climacus signs three different texts

Kierkegaard and the Tragic

The Spirit in Time

Conclusion