See and Find out (Part 2)

In Soren Kierkegaard's philosophy, he thought about man as an individual and concluded that man goes through three processes in growing when he seeks to find the Truth. The first stage is the aesthetic stage, then to the ethical stage, and finally man reaches his apex at the religious stage. However, no one goes through the same things and all these stages are completely unique for each individual.

In the aesthetic stage, man seeks pleasure in sort of a Epicurean way. Pleasure is the ultimate goal in life and what feels good, is good in this stage of development. Man lives for the moment and eternal purpose doesn't even cross his mind. This stage leads only to emptiness because life holds no purpose because sooner or later, the body will die and have no eternal meaning. This leads the individual into despair and hopelessness. This leads to the ethical stage.

In the ethical stage of man's development, the individual stops worrying only about constant temporary pleasures and start looking toward meaning and worth in life. Man now looks to society to see what he can contribute and in what ways he can help out. This is the stage where man sees that there can be purpose, but very soon this purpose will run out because it is only partial and then it will also lead the individual into despair.

The third stage of man's development happens to be the religious stage. In this stage, man sees that the eternal truth is God, and begins to seek him out. During man's journey with God, God will reveal to them their own individual purpose in this life and it will have eternal purpose. This stage gives man eternal happiness and purpose.

In order for this religious stage to even occur, there must be a "leap of faith." In this leap, man must realize that the only way to test out religion will be to go all out for it. According to Kierkegaard, this is not a rational thing at all, but a spiritual and from the heart. No human reason can comprehend God, nor can we know Him on only an intellectual basis. Man must let go of his ties to the world and fall off the cliff, so to speak, and trust with faith that God will provide, save, and give purpose on an individual level to those who make this "leap."

(Extracted from http://ww2.wooster.k12.oh.us/highschool/classprojects/meister/Philosophers'%20Web/Soren%20Kierkegaard/Soren%20Kierkagaard.html)



"For sure, you have to be lost to find a place that can't be found..."
~ Captain Barbossa from Pirates of the Carribean, At World's End.

Let's hope others will find out sooner than later, before it's too late.