I was fascinated and it somewhat made sense. I re-read it a few times and finally decided that I should write it down. To remind myself or to just uphold on what I once thought was worth re-reading and writing and hope that ill still believe in self improvement and erm stuff like that, so here goes.
However, it would just be brief (the writings) and somewhat incomplete. It is more like a short review of what this guy believed. Kierkegaard (the philosopher) believed that there were three different forms of life. He himself used the form stages. He calls them the aesthetic stages, the ethical stages, and the religious stage. He used the term stage to emphasize that one can live at one of the two lower stages and then suddenly leap to a higher stage. Many people live at the same stage all their life.
He who lives at the aesthetic stages lives for the moment and grasp every opportunity of enjoyment. Good is whatever beautiful, satisfying, or pleasant. This person lives wholly in the world of the senses and is a slave to his own desires and moods. Everything that is boring is bad.
The typical Romantic is thus also the typical aesthetic, since there is more to it than pure sensory enjoyment. A person who has a reflective approach to reality or for that matter to his art or the philosophy he or she is engaged in – is living the aesthetic stage. It is even possible to have an aesthetic or ‘reflective’ attitude to suffering and sorrow.
A person who lives at the aesthetic stage can easily experience angst, or a sense of dread and a feeling of emptiness. If this happens, there is also hope. According to Kierkegaard, angst is almost positive. It is an expression of the fact that the individual in an ‘existential situation’ and now can elect to make a great leap to a higher stage. But it either happens or it doesn’t. It doesn’t help to be on the verge of making the leap, if u don’t do it completely. It is a matter of either/ or. But nobody can do it for you. It’s your own choice. It’s a little like deciding to quit drinking or doing drugs. And just thought I’d add this one although it is unnecessary, Socrates said, “All true insight comes from within”.
Having written that down, I will stop and hope that ill read this once in a while.
However, it would just be brief (the writings) and somewhat incomplete. It is more like a short review of what this guy believed. Kierkegaard (the philosopher) believed that there were three different forms of life. He himself used the form stages. He calls them the aesthetic stages, the ethical stages, and the religious stage. He used the term stage to emphasize that one can live at one of the two lower stages and then suddenly leap to a higher stage. Many people live at the same stage all their life.
He who lives at the aesthetic stages lives for the moment and grasp every opportunity of enjoyment. Good is whatever beautiful, satisfying, or pleasant. This person lives wholly in the world of the senses and is a slave to his own desires and moods. Everything that is boring is bad.
The typical Romantic is thus also the typical aesthetic, since there is more to it than pure sensory enjoyment. A person who has a reflective approach to reality or for that matter to his art or the philosophy he or she is engaged in – is living the aesthetic stage. It is even possible to have an aesthetic or ‘reflective’ attitude to suffering and sorrow.
A person who lives at the aesthetic stage can easily experience angst, or a sense of dread and a feeling of emptiness. If this happens, there is also hope. According to Kierkegaard, angst is almost positive. It is an expression of the fact that the individual in an ‘existential situation’ and now can elect to make a great leap to a higher stage. But it either happens or it doesn’t. It doesn’t help to be on the verge of making the leap, if u don’t do it completely. It is a matter of either/ or. But nobody can do it for you. It’s your own choice. It’s a little like deciding to quit drinking or doing drugs. And just thought I’d add this one although it is unnecessary, Socrates said, “All true insight comes from within”.
Having written that down, I will stop and hope that ill read this once in a while.
