Environment Man

Well Kirkegaard was deep among the other 19th Century philosophers in that he put God in the equation. His takes on innocence and dread are enlightening. And although he was a Christian, he made no attempts to justify religious belief. And of course, as a sort of purist he fought with the church in the 1800s. Just grabbed one of my old books and looked over his stuff again.

Mike D.

I am about to order Joakim Garff's biography of him. I would imagine Kierkegaard's having been a Christian would for the most part discredit him on any philosophies of his presented here. Which is ironic because Kierkegaard railed against the brand of strawman religion that the atheist set here seems obsessed with.

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Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. ~Leo Tolstoy

GurnBlanston

See if Google has it (or parts of it) in their online library.

http://books.google.com/books?q=Kierkegaard

Environment Man

Kierkegaard has such a cool name. Cool views too. Although it was fun to study all the greats, I wish more of them had included a study of the nature of God in their analyses. Now as I look back I see them really trying to glorify themselves through their work in replacement of God. It hurt their work in my opinion.

That is why when you read Kierkegaard it is quite refreshing because you know 'he gets it.' And can move out from there to then logically and scientifically describe the nature of existence.

Mike D.

Thanks, Gurn. But I am a bibliophile nerd. I have to have a book on my shelf and be able to hold it and smell it.

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Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. ~Leo Tolstoy

Environment Man

My philosophy books at like 35 years old and dusty. You talk about smell. Pages are a little yellowed. Love scrolling back through some of that stuff though. When I was 18 it seemed deep. Now most of the old 16th, 17th, 18th and 19 century philosophers just seem cute in their philosophies. They just seem desperate and pathetic in trying to explain existence and the universe without including God in their equations and philosophies.

Mike D.

I liked Neitzsche when I was 14; now he seems quaint and ridiculous. Whenever a juvenile wants to seem smart and rebellious he'll most likely start throwing Neitzsche around. I gave away all of my Neitzsche several years ago--I didn't want his nonsense in my house anymore.

I don't read many philosophers in the broad sense, but the ones I do like I like a lot. Sartre was an idiot. I would like to read Kant's Critique of Reason.

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Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. ~Leo Tolstoy

nroberts

Kant is dry as a bone. I've had that book for ages and can only make about 1 paragraph in a sitting. I pass out before I reach the end.

Mike D.

Snippets I have read sound interesting. The entire book may be a bore. I will borrow it from the library when I decide to give it a go--usually I won't buy a book unless I have read it first and am certain I want to keep it.

__________________
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. ~Leo Tolstoy

Environment Man

Yeah but their names are so cool to through around when you are a juvenile philosopher. In my 19th century books Kierkegaard is between Marx and Neitzsche. I actually considered myself a Maxist for about 15 minutes my freshman year. Then my philosophy pointed out that there were holes under the patches on my jeans.