Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

Unlike Nietzsche, Kierkegaard did not deny the existence of objective reality or truth, but he did not care much about it.  What he cared about was the subjective matter of finding something to commit his life to. 

Like Nietzsche, his aim was to encourage people to think for themselves.  As he saw it, we have basically three choices:

1. the aesthetic life of seeking pleasure, interest, or entertainment and avoiding boredom and pain.  This, he suggests, will inevitably be unsuccessful.  Boredom is unavoidable.

2. the ethical life of doing one's duty at all times.  This also, he suggests, is bound to end in failure.  Moral perfection is unattainable.

3. the religious life of obedience to God.  This might not fail, but it could be a waste of life.  We cannot prove that God exists, and His will might be that we do something unethical.

Whichever life one chooses must be in a sense arbitrary.  We must choose on our own, and science, logic, etc. cannot prove that any choice is right or wrong. 

The truth about life is that all the big questions must be answered subjectively, for oneself, without the aid of reason.  But the spirit of the modern age is to make everything more impersonal, less human.   

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