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The Sickness Unto Death
by Søren Kierkegaard
The Sickness Unto Death is Kierkegaard's deep dive into despair.
Kierkegaard explores and ultimately defines despair as being a sensation inevitably present in the Christian human condition.
Likewise, with the exception of pagans, he claims all human beings must now exist in relation to this Christian human condition as humans, in this part of history, either accept the existence of Christ or choose not to.
The idea that one is or can be without an opinion on this matter is a false one, which he explains, at length, in the latter half of the work.
That being said, be it belief or unbelief, despair is inevitable. Kierkegaard then takes his reader on a ride, and what a ride it is....
Kierkegaard's descent or rather ascent into faith and despair is an engaging one.
His logic is circular, much like walking around a labyrinth that has a single entrance and exit into each subsequent phase of the journey. Think of the shape of Dante hell only with less creatures...In essence, Kierkegaard makes a full circle in each phase the argument, concluding right before where he repeats himself.
He does so in order to better define and contextualize the next phase of his proposal.
Proposal is a key word here, as Kierkegaard's writing, at least in translation, never really feels as though it is attempting to convince you, as a reader, rather, his writing proposes a way of possibly seeing and understanding the world.
It's particularly liberating, as a reader, to understand, but not necessarily believe, that christians have it wrong when they see sin and virtue as opposites. His proposed prayer both somber and hilarious: There is a prayer which especially in our times would be so apt: 'God in heaven, I thank you for not requiring a person to comprehend Christianity, for if it were required, then I would be of all men the most miserable. The more I seek to comprehend it, the more I discover merely the possibility of offence. Therefore, I thank you for requiring only faith and I pray you will continue to increase it.'(162)
Kierkegaard suggests that the Christian dialectic actually consists of sin and faith.
To me, this is modern in thinking in so that it places less emphasis on action and more on belief. Suggesting that actions can be misinterpreted or acted out for the wrong reasons but faith is inherently extant at any given moment. That faith is either pure or non-existent.
There are wonders to behold in terms quotations and it is a beautiful day today so I will only add a few though I strongly recommend you read and share your favourites:
'The self is not the relation but the relation's relating to the self' (9)
'If there were nothing eternal in man, he would simply be unable to despair' (19)
'eternity will nevertheless make it evident that his condition is that of despair, and will nail him to his self so that the torment will still be that he cannot be rid of his self, and it will be evident that his success was an illusion. And this eternity must do, because having a self, being a self, is the greatest, the infinite, concession that has been made to man, but also eternity's claim on him. (20)
'What is rare is not someone should be in despair; nom what is rare, the great rarity, is that one should truly not be in despair' (22)
'Commonly a person is assumed to be healthy if he himself doesn't say that he is ill' (22)
'he who says without pretence that he despairs is, after all, a little nearer, a dialectical step nearer being cured than all those who are not regarded and who do not regard themselves as being in despair' (27)
'the only life wasted is the life of one who so lived it, deceived by life's pleasures or its sorrows, that he never became decisively, eternally, conscious of himself as spirit, as self, or, what is the same, he never became aware- and gained in the deepest sense the impression- that there is a god there and that 'he' himself, his self, exists before this God, which infinite gain is never come by except through despair; (28)
'eternity asks you, and every one of these millions of millions, just one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not, whether so in despair that you did not know what you were in despair, or in such a way that you bore this sickness concealed deep inside you as your gnawing secret, under your heart like the fruit of a sinful love, or in such a way that, a terror to others, you raged in despair' (29)
'In general, what is decisive with regard to the self is consciousness, that is to say self-consciousness. The more consciousness, the more will; the more sill, the more self. Someone who has no will at all is no self. the the more will he has, the more self-consciousness he has too. (30)
'for in the world a self is what one least asks after, and the thing it is most dangerous of all to show signs of having' (35)
'The world really only interests itself in intellectual or aesthetic limitations, or in the indifferent, which is always what the world talks about most. (35)-Imagine the cojones on writing this 170 years ago.
'by being busied with all sorts of worldy affair, by being wise to the ways of the world, such a person forgets himself, in a divine sense forgets his own name, dares not believe in himself, finds being himself too risky, finds it much easier and safer to be like the others, to become a copy, a number, along with the crowd...this form of despair goes practically unnoticed in the wold. Precisely by losing himself in this way such a person gains all that is required for a flawless performance in everyday life, yest, for making a great success out of life. (36)
'Naturally the world has no understanding of what is truly horrifying' (37)
'A self that has no possibility is in despair, and likewise a self that has no necessity (38)---Think of the ties to capitalism here.... Strong indictment for the importance of possibility and desire for things, they need not be religion, but things other than material goods....
'the mirror of possibility is no ordinary mirror' (40)
'The necessary is as though there were only consonants, but to utter them there has to be possibility' (41)
'The believer possesses the ever-sure antidote to despair:possibility; since for God everything is possible at every moment' (44)
'To lack possibility means either that everything has become necessary or that everything has become trivial' (44)
'Personhood is a synthesis or possibility and necessity' (45)
'the urge for solitude is a sign that there is after all spirit in a person and the measure of what spirit in a person and the measure of what spirit there i. So little do chattering nonentities and socializers feel the need for solitude that, like love-birds, if left alone for an instant they promptly die. As a little child must be lulled to sleep, so these need the soothing hushaby of social life to be able to eat, drink, sleep, pray, fall in love, etc. (77)
'in our own day it is indeed a crime to have spirit, so the fact that such people, the lovers of solitude, are put into the same category as criminals is just as it should be' (78)
'the self must be broken down to become itself, just stop despairing over it' (79)
'because he has opened himself to another, he despairs over that; it may strike him that it would have been infinitely preferable to have kept silent than to have someone privy to his despair (80)-21st century
'The formula always is: wanting in despair to be oneself. (83)
'The despairing self is forever building only castles in the air, and is always only fencing with an imaginary opponent. (84)
'A man who admires something but feels he cannot be happy surrendering himself to it, that man chooses to be envious of what he admires. (105)
'To defend something is always to discredit it' (106)
'Admiration is happy self-surrender, envy is unhappy self-assertion' (106)
Kierkegaard explores and ultimately defines despair as being a sensation inevitably present in the Christian human condition.
Likewise, with the exception of pagans, he claims all human beings must now exist in relation to this Christian human condition as humans, in this part of history, either accept the existence of Christ or choose not to.
The idea that one is or can be without an opinion on this matter is a false one, which he explains, at length, in the latter half of the work.
That being said, be it belief or unbelief, despair is inevitable. Kierkegaard then takes his reader on a ride, and what a ride it is....
Kierkegaard's descent or rather ascent into faith and despair is an engaging one.
His logic is circular, much like walking around a labyrinth that has a single entrance and exit into each subsequent phase of the journey. Think of the shape of Dante hell only with less creatures...In essence, Kierkegaard makes a full circle in each phase the argument, concluding right before where he repeats himself.
He does so in order to better define and contextualize the next phase of his proposal.
Proposal is a key word here, as Kierkegaard's writing, at least in translation, never really feels as though it is attempting to convince you, as a reader, rather, his writing proposes a way of possibly seeing and understanding the world.
It's particularly liberating, as a reader, to understand, but not necessarily believe, that christians have it wrong when they see sin and virtue as opposites. His proposed prayer both somber and hilarious: There is a prayer which especially in our times would be so apt: 'God in heaven, I thank you for not requiring a person to comprehend Christianity, for if it were required, then I would be of all men the most miserable. The more I seek to comprehend it, the more I discover merely the possibility of offence. Therefore, I thank you for requiring only faith and I pray you will continue to increase it.'(162)
Kierkegaard suggests that the Christian dialectic actually consists of sin and faith.
To me, this is modern in thinking in so that it places less emphasis on action and more on belief. Suggesting that actions can be misinterpreted or acted out for the wrong reasons but faith is inherently extant at any given moment. That faith is either pure or non-existent.
There are wonders to behold in terms quotations and it is a beautiful day today so I will only add a few though I strongly recommend you read and share your favourites:
'The self is not the relation but the relation's relating to the self' (9)
'If there were nothing eternal in man, he would simply be unable to despair' (19)
'eternity will nevertheless make it evident that his condition is that of despair, and will nail him to his self so that the torment will still be that he cannot be rid of his self, and it will be evident that his success was an illusion. And this eternity must do, because having a self, being a self, is the greatest, the infinite, concession that has been made to man, but also eternity's claim on him. (20)
'What is rare is not someone should be in despair; nom what is rare, the great rarity, is that one should truly not be in despair' (22)
'Commonly a person is assumed to be healthy if he himself doesn't say that he is ill' (22)
'he who says without pretence that he despairs is, after all, a little nearer, a dialectical step nearer being cured than all those who are not regarded and who do not regard themselves as being in despair' (27)
'the only life wasted is the life of one who so lived it, deceived by life's pleasures or its sorrows, that he never became decisively, eternally, conscious of himself as spirit, as self, or, what is the same, he never became aware- and gained in the deepest sense the impression- that there is a god there and that 'he' himself, his self, exists before this God, which infinite gain is never come by except through despair; (28)
'eternity asks you, and every one of these millions of millions, just one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not, whether so in despair that you did not know what you were in despair, or in such a way that you bore this sickness concealed deep inside you as your gnawing secret, under your heart like the fruit of a sinful love, or in such a way that, a terror to others, you raged in despair' (29)
'In general, what is decisive with regard to the self is consciousness, that is to say self-consciousness. The more consciousness, the more will; the more sill, the more self. Someone who has no will at all is no self. the the more will he has, the more self-consciousness he has too. (30)
'for in the world a self is what one least asks after, and the thing it is most dangerous of all to show signs of having' (35)
'The world really only interests itself in intellectual or aesthetic limitations, or in the indifferent, which is always what the world talks about most. (35)-Imagine the cojones on writing this 170 years ago.
'by being busied with all sorts of worldy affair, by being wise to the ways of the world, such a person forgets himself, in a divine sense forgets his own name, dares not believe in himself, finds being himself too risky, finds it much easier and safer to be like the others, to become a copy, a number, along with the crowd...this form of despair goes practically unnoticed in the wold. Precisely by losing himself in this way such a person gains all that is required for a flawless performance in everyday life, yest, for making a great success out of life. (36)
'Naturally the world has no understanding of what is truly horrifying' (37)
'A self that has no possibility is in despair, and likewise a self that has no necessity (38)---Think of the ties to capitalism here.... Strong indictment for the importance of possibility and desire for things, they need not be religion, but things other than material goods....
'the mirror of possibility is no ordinary mirror' (40)
'The necessary is as though there were only consonants, but to utter them there has to be possibility' (41)
'The believer possesses the ever-sure antidote to despair:possibility; since for God everything is possible at every moment' (44)
'To lack possibility means either that everything has become necessary or that everything has become trivial' (44)
'Personhood is a synthesis or possibility and necessity' (45)
'the urge for solitude is a sign that there is after all spirit in a person and the measure of what spirit in a person and the measure of what spirit there i. So little do chattering nonentities and socializers feel the need for solitude that, like love-birds, if left alone for an instant they promptly die. As a little child must be lulled to sleep, so these need the soothing hushaby of social life to be able to eat, drink, sleep, pray, fall in love, etc. (77)
'in our own day it is indeed a crime to have spirit, so the fact that such people, the lovers of solitude, are put into the same category as criminals is just as it should be' (78)
'the self must be broken down to become itself, just stop despairing over it' (79)
'because he has opened himself to another, he despairs over that; it may strike him that it would have been infinitely preferable to have kept silent than to have someone privy to his despair (80)-21st century
'The formula always is: wanting in despair to be oneself. (83)
'The despairing self is forever building only castles in the air, and is always only fencing with an imaginary opponent. (84)
'A man who admires something but feels he cannot be happy surrendering himself to it, that man chooses to be envious of what he admires. (105)
'To defend something is always to discredit it' (106)
'Admiration is happy self-surrender, envy is unhappy self-assertion' (106)