Existentianlism
Write 6 pages double spaced on that questions following the instructions.
Questions for Paper 1.
Note: Please write out the question (the bit in bold) in full in your papers!
I have provided tips for each question. They are just that, feel free to disregard.
1. Is Abraham’s faith to be condemned? What kind of justification, if any, is there for Abraham’s behaviour?
Tips:
Think of the different ways one might condemn Abraham: as being irrational, unethical, evil, absurd etc.
Think about how might one justify Abraham? Might he be condemned, but still defended from charges of being unethical or evil? Might one say that he should not be condemned at all? Might be he justified using means other than Johannes provides in Fear and Trembling?
2. Can one be ethical and be a knight of faith?
Tips:
Explicitly define the ethical – you might choose one definition, such as Kant’s, or you might choose several, such as Mill or Aristotle’s definition.
Describe what a knight of faith is. Contrast the knight of faith with the knight of infinite resignation and the tragic hero.
Think about the different ways we might say the knight of faith is ethical? Will you say he is partly ethical and partly not? Will you say he cannot be ethical at all be he contravenes some essential laws of ethics? Will you say he is in fact an exemplary figure for the ethical?
3. What effect does Kierkegaard’s technique of indirect communication accomplish? Why is it important that Fear and Trembling is written by Johannes de Silentio? What role does he have a role to play in the narrative?
Tips:
Define indirect communication. Discuss literal vs. figurative readings of passages by analysing some passages and showing the different ways one can read them.
Discuss why it is important that Kierkegaard does not present his views directly, but through an intermediary. Discuss how reliable Johannes is as a narrator.
4. How can the individual as the individual be higher than the universal? Does this make sense?
Tips:
Discuss problem one (the teleological suspension of the ethical) in some depth. What is meant by the individual in this section of the book? How important is this notion of the individual to the argument? How important is it that we are talking about Abraham (not just one individual, but this individual).
What is meant by the universal? How important is this notion of the universal to the argument? What does higher in this context mean? Is the claim as a whole intelligible?
5. What role does silence play in Fear and Trembling?
Tips:
Go through Fear and Trembling and seek out all the passages that mention silence/silent (it is mentioned throughout the entire text). Pay specific attention to problem 3 (the problem of silence). Discuss why Johannes de silentio is called what he is called. How might we contrast what Johannes says about Abraham’s silence to what we hear in Genesis 22?
How might we use silence as a way to understand Fear and Trembling as a whole?