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Søren Kierkegaard: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Søren Kierkegaard, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• God told Abraham to kill his own son. Kierkegaard says that's what real faith demands.

  By ordinary ethics, a father raising a knife over his son is a murderer, full stop. Kierkegaard's pseudonymous narrator argues Abraham was neither: faith required him to suspend th…

  — Søren Kierkegaard (pseudonym: Johannes de Silentio), Fear and Trembling

• Obeying God's order to kill his son made Abraham a hero, not a monster, Kierkegaard argued

  God orders Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, and Abraham prepares to obey. By any ordinary ethical standard this is attempted murder, yet Kierkegaard calls Abraham the supreme 'k…

  — Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling

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