Cite Entry
March 19 2024
07:00 EDT
Søren Kierkegaard
SITE SEARCH ENGINE
|
Introduction to Philosophy
Søren Kierkegaard, "God's Existence Cannot Be Proved"
Abstract: Søren Kierkegaard explains why the
existence of something cannot be proved. He argues that the use of
logic merely develops the content of a conception and concludes the
existence of God can only be known through a leap of faith.
- What is Kierkegaard's argument relating God's
existence to proof?
- Explain: “I reason from existence,
not towards existence.” Is the example of Napoleon and
his deeds a good one?
- According to Kierkegaard, where are
the works of God?
- Why doesn't the existence of God come out
of proof?
- How could the proof of God's existence
be discredited?
- What is “the leap”?
- Explain the statement, “The Reason
has brought God as near as possible, and yet he is as far
away as ever.”
- Kierkegaard wrote during the decade of the 1840's—historically,
the same decade as Marx and Engels's Manifesto, August Comte's
Cours de Philosophie Positive, Ludwig Feuerbach's The
Essence of Christianity, John Stuart Mill's A System of
Logic, and Charles Darwin's Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S.
Beagle.
- Kierkegaard's motto was “I had perished, had I not
perished.”; The disintegration of the inauthentic life makes
the life of the single individual possible.
- He writes, “Alas, I was never young” and [the
important thing is] “What I am to do or be, not what
I am to know.”
- Kierkegaard's resolution was to become a Christian writer in
Christendom. He considered “the question of
questions” to be “How can I become a Christian?”
His life was spent “in service of the Idea.”
- Christianity, according to S.K., has two enemies: the
Hegelian and the unreflective church-goer.
- The study questions above are taken from James A. Gould and Robert J. Mulvaney,
“Faith, Not Logic Is the Basis of Belief.” A brief outline of Kierkegaard's life
and philosophy is provided in Søren
Kierkegaard, "Truth as Subjectivity".
- Notes below are arranged in response to the questions stated above
pertaining to Kierkegaard's Philosophical Fragments.
This reading selection is available in many
introductory philosophy readers and is also online as
Philosophical
Fragments at D. Anthony
Strom's Commentary on Kierkegaard
and as
“The
Absolute Paradox: A Metaphysical Crotchet” at religion-online.org.
- What is Kierkegaard's argument relating God's
existence to proof?
- Let us look at a generalized standard-form categorical
syllogism purporting to be proof for God's existence.
- An [unknown thing] is an existent thing.
- God is an [unknown thing].
__________________________
- Therefore, God is an existent thing.
- The syllogism appears to be of the valid form:
- All B's are C's.
- All A's are B's.
______________________________
- Therefore, all A's are C's.
- Nevertheless, notice how we have assumed in the premises of
this syllogism the very point we wish to prove. As
Kierkegaard says, all we have done is to develop the
content of a conception. I.e., the existence
of the reference of terms does not suddenly emerge in the
conclusion since those the reference of those terms is
already present in the premises of the argument.
- Arguing in this manner is similarly reflected in the following
jest:
If we ask who most people voted for in the past
U.S. Presidential election, and also we ask who can
increase spending for the military, education, social
security, and so on, as well as balance the budget and not
increase taxes, then the answer is clearly that
“Nobody” could do all this. Hence, it would seem reasonable to
conclude that “Nobody” should be President.
Since “nobody” does not have existential import in
the premises expressed in questions, ”nobody“
would, as well, have no existential import in the conclusion.
- Explain: “I reason from existence, not
towards existence.” Is the example of Napoleon and his deeds
a good one?
- In an argument, one gives reasons, grounds, and evidence
for the acceptance of a conclusion. Existence must be
assumed in the premises; it cannot be proved. Occasionally,
this point is expressed as in Immanuel Kant's words as “Existence is not a
predicate.”
- Consider the following inferences from the Square of Opposition:
- All philosophy students are awake
—[subalternation]—> Therefore,
least one philosophy student is awake.
- All unicorns have horns —[subalternation]—>
Therefore, at least one unicorn has a horn.
- If the subject of the conclusion exists and the conclusion
is true, then we must have assumed the existence of that
subject in the premisses of the argument.
- For example, one cannot prove Napoleon's existence from
his deeds by arguing …
- An [unknown] invaded Russia, lost the Waterloo campaign,
was exiled to Elba, and so on.
- Napoleon is the [unknown].
__________________________
- Therefore, Napoleon exists.
- The truth of the conclusion “Napoleon exists,”
only logically follows if the [unknown] in the presises
is already presumed to exist.
- According to Kierkegaard, where are the
works of God?
- The works or deeds of God are not immediately
given in experience and understanding. It could be a serious
philosophical mistake to identify the deeds of God with the
works or nature, the governance of the world, or natural law
because of plague, pestilence, earthquakes, and other natural
disasters (I.e., the existence of nonmoral evil presumably
would not qualify as works or deeds of God.)
- One would have to take an ideal interpretation of
natural occurrences—that only good things in the
world are done by God—the same kind of ideal interpretation
is implicit in many attempts to rectify the problem of evil.
- Why doesn't the existence of God come
out of proof?
- If we tried to prove the existence of God by a posteriori
means, then we could never finish listing all of the events in
the natural order of things. Thus, the proof would be
incomplete—we would be anxiously awaiting future events.
- Again, existence explains the deeds, but deeds do not prove
existence .
- Thus, Kierkegaard says we would be living in suspense until
the proof is complete. The proof would hang on future
occurrences.
- How could the proof of God's existence
be discredited?
- If we use the facts of nature for proof, a tragic disaster
or new discovery could change our mind about what we heretofore
thought were the acts of God.
- For example, many persons say upon the birth of a newborn
baby, “How could one not believe in the miracles of
God?” Yet, the future tragic occurrence of deformity or
crib death might alter the belief. Often the defense of God's
existence as exemplified in such occurrences is ultimately
a fixed, often circular, belief where no counter-example is
admitted.
- E.g., consider Edmund Gosse's account of his father's
struggle to reconcile Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology
with the biblical creation story. (Lyell's paleontology
greatly influenced Charles Darwin.) Edmund's father claimed that
God created the complete fossil record on earth at the time of the creation
of the universe as a test of man's faith.
- What is “the leap”?
- The “leap” is a metaphor for the “Aha!”
phenomenon of suddenly seeing the point of something—a
flash of insight revealing a solution or answer to a complex
problem.
- In a word, God's existence or nonexistence does not hinge
on our ability to see the point of an argument.
- Explain the statement, “The Reason has brought
God as near as possible, and yet he is as far away as ever.”
- Reason and intellect attempt to prove God's existence. But
God is absolutely different and totally beyond our
comprehension and beyond our language to describe.
- The qualities of God cannot be captured in the predicates
of language. Blaise Pascal makes
a similar point when introducing his Wager in the
Pensées.
Notes
Further Reading:
- The
Absolute Paradox: A Metaphysical Crotchet: The online reading from
David F. Swenson's translation of
Søren Kierkegaard's Philosophical Fragments from upon
which the notes and questions above are based—provided by
religion-online.org.
- D. Anthony Storm's
Commentary on Kierkegaard: Commentary, publication data, and
quotations are on the beginning at this fascinating site.
D. Anthony Strom skillfully presents Kierkegaard's method of dual
authorship, an overview of his philosophy, a biography, a thorough
bibliography, and gallery of images relating to S.K. and his life.
- Soren
Kierkegaard A biography, summary of major works, chronology,
bibliography, and commentary is provided by C. S. Wyatt at The Existential
Primer.
- Søren
Kierkegaard: A discussion of Kierkegaard's life, rhetoric,
æsthetics, ethics, religion, and politics is essayed by
William McDonald in the Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Søren
Kierkegaard: The biography, writing, and notable ideas of
Kierkegaard are skillfully summarized in this entry from the Wikipedia.
- Søren Kierkegaard, "Truth as Subjectivity"
Brief outline of Kierkegaard's life, works, and philosophy emphasizing
the stages on life's way, authenticity, and truth as subjectivity.
“An existential system cannot be formulated. Does this mean
that no such system exists? By no means; nor is this implied in our
assertion. Reality is a system—for God; but it cannot be a system
for any existing spirit. System and finality correspond to one
another, but existence is precisely the opposite of finality. It may
be seen, from a purely abstract point of view, that system and
existence are incapable of being thought together; because in order
to think existence at all, systematic thought must think it as
abrogated, and hence not existing.” Søren Kierkegaard,
Concluding Unscientific Postscript, trans. David F. Swenson and
Walter Lowrie (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1941), 107.
Relay corrections, suggestions or questions to
larchie at lander.edu
Please see the
disclaimer
concerning this page.
This page last updated March 21, 2015
Licensed under the GFDL
|