“A human being is spirit. But what is spirit? Spirit is the self. But what is the self? The self is a relation that relates itself to itself or is the relation's relating itself to itself in the relation; the self is not the relation but is the relation's relating itself to itself. A human being is a synthesis of the infinite and the finite, of the temporal and the eternal, of freedom and necessity, in short, a synthesis. A synthesis is a relation between two. Considered in this way a human being is still not a self.... In the relation between two, the relation is the third as a negative unity, and the two relate to the relation and in the relation to the relation; thus under the qualification of the psychical the relation between the psychical and the physical is a relation. If, however, the relation relates itself to itself, this relation is the positive third, and this is the self.”

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About Søren Kierkegaard

Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic, and religious writer

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic, and religious writer. He is widely regarded as the first existentialist philosopher, and he lived in the early to mid 19th century. His writing examines organized religion, Christianity, morality, ethics, psychology, love, and the philosophy of religion. He often used metaphor, irony, and parable, and his work returns again and again to the question of how a person lives as a single individual, with emphasis on authenticity, personal choice, commitment, and the duty to love.

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Books by Søren Kierkegaard

Frygt og Bæven

2006

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Forførerens Dagbog

2007

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Sygdommen til døden

1983

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Kærlighedens gerninger

1995

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The concept of anxiety

2014

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