The Role and Significance of Faith in the Context of the Knight of Faith as a Paragon of Kierkegaard’s Philosophy of Religion

Abstract

In the 19th century, Kierkegaard’s concept of faith determined the beginning of existential thought because it introduced a large number of topics that would be used and further developed by 20th-century existentialism, whose starting point was the individual – not only in the intellectual, but also the emotional sense, as an integral being – i.e. a subject that strives to live authentically and freely. The topics in question include individual self-actualisation, anxiety, despair, the absurdity of living, and so on. For Kierkegaard, faith is the starting point for self-actualisation into the fullness of a human being, and is only possible as a belief in God, i.e. a private and unique relationship between an individual and God. Kierkegaard considers Abraham an embodiment of such faith, a knight of faith, i.e. a paragon whom we should aspire to emulate. In this paper I shall therefore explore the role and significance of faith in the context of the knight of faith as a paragon of Kierkegaard’s philosophy of religion.