Fear and Trembling

Søren Kierkegaard is one of the founders of 20th-century philosophy, a precursor of existentialism. At the center of his philosophical reflections, Kierkegaard places the problem of the existence of the individual - the unique and singular - human being, opposing universal and objective foundations of human existence. According to Kierkegaard, a human being, unlike an animal, is not a generic but an existing creature. In this paradigm, the philosopher analyzes three spheres of human existence - aesthetic, ethical, and religious. Historically, the first stage is aesthetic, when a person is overwhelmed by pleasures, obsessed with passions, becoming a captive of their own aspirations. The outcome of this is saturation and a sense of the meaninglessness of existence, accompanied by despair. The second stage of a person's life is ethical, which is opposed to the aesthetic. Its foundation is the consciousness of responsibility and duty of each person towards their kind, towards humanity. The main requirement for a person becomes the demand to become oneself. The third stage of human development, contrary to the first two, is religious. Faith is the highest passion in a person. Perhaps in any generation, there will be many people who have not even reached it, but not a single one who could go beyond it... However, even for one who has not yet reached faith, life presents enough tasks, and with an honest attitude towards them, their life will not remain fruitless, even if it does not resemble the life of those who have understood and attained the greatest - FAITH. Faith is the foundation of the highest stage of human development, that is, the stage of existence. To examine the source of faith, its specificity - is the task of the treatise Fear and Trembling. Kierkegaard brings forth the main character - the knight of faith - biblical Abraham and seeks to show the existence of Abraham and his actions from the heart. The consideration of the faith personified by Abraham allows us to see his unique singularity, carrying a miracle.