Kierkegaard

This book shows how Soren Kierkegaard put each person first in thought. This Danish thinker lived from 1813 to 1855. He wrote in a deeply personal way. His views on truth and knowledge start with real lives. What each person lives through matters. So do their spiritual goals.

He challenged the old schools of idealism and rationalism. These sought truths beyond time and each person's life. He put the person before such abstract systems of thought.

Joan Sole wrote this guide to philosophy for new readers. It forms part of the Descopera filosofia series. It calls Kierkegaard the first existentialist. This means his thought starts with each person's life.

The book shows why later existentialists took up his ideas. They did so after World War II. The war's cruel acts drove them to seek new grounds for ethics and culture. His focus on each person gave them another path. They could turn from abstract systems to lived life.

The book also looks at his work's aim in faith. He drew on psychology, the study of the mind. He joined this with philosophy and skill in writing. He sought to lead each person toward the core of Christianity.