Kierkegaard, Socrates, and the Meaning of Life

For Kierkegaard, a meaningful life requires having a personal destiny formed in relation to God, and remaining faithful to our greatest loves and passions.

Rick Anthony Furtak (Author)

9781009616096, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 17 April 2025

64 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 0.4 cm, 0.11 kg

Kierkegaard's lifelong fascination with the figure of Socrates has many aspects, but prominent among them is his admiration for the way Socrates was devoted to his divinely ordained mission as a philosopher. To have such a destiny, revealed through what one loves and is passionate about as well as through a feeling of vocation, is a necessary condition of leading a meaningful life, according to Kierkegaard. Examining what Kierkegaard has to say about the meaning of life requires looking at his conception of 'subjective truth,' as well as how he understands the ancient ideal of 'amor fati,' a notion that Nietzsche would subsequently take up, but that Kierkegaard understands in a manner that is distinctly his own, and that he sought to put into practice in his own existence. Our life is a work of art, but we are not the artist.

1. Socrates and 'another side of the truth': Subjectivity and Felt Conviction
2. 'Religiousness lies in being deeply moved': Love and Passionate Inspiration
3. 'So powerful an urge . . .': Finding the Meaning of Each Life
v4. 'The true life of the individual': Kierkegaardian Amor Fati
References.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA]