I spent last week as a participant of the Summer Classics program at St. John’s College, Santa Fe, which offers a uniquely enclosed, quiet space for intellectual movement. Reflecting, my time there paralleled the motivating idea of one of the two books I read, the Hong edition of Søren Kierkegaard’s The Sickness Unto Death.
Kierkegaard was actually the first existentialist, though many followed him with approaches that similarly dealt primarily with a focus on the individual, and the alienation of the individual self vis-à-vis the world. It is interesting that for one to be an existentialist, they would almost always be an atheist. It is doubly interesting, however, that Kierkegaard worried over existential ideas through a Christian perspective.
The Sickness Unto Death implores each individual (specifically and contextually, those in then-contemporary Christendom, circa 1848) to develop their self. Each self is a synthesis of the temporal and the eternal, though some have no notion that they have a self (a form of despair), and others actively rebel at the idea that their self should have as its task anything outside of the individual’s own human notions of what is important to being fully realized in life (another form of despair).
Many forms of despair are explored in this book, wherein most people are said to be of one type or another, of which I am exploring two in this post. Think you’re not in despair? Many do, the book implies, but for instance, something can send that person into a state wherein they reevaluate life (maybe that person is marking time, living his or her days, they take a new and more advanced job only to realize that the job, which comes with more money, more prestige and much longer workdays, leaves them feeling washed out, empty. Then, they realize, they have always felt like this, for their entire life. What has hidden this from their realization are the outward trappings of success, visible to their peers, encouraged by society, and/or a busy social life. He or she had been living in the immediacy of the world.) and the person at last realizes: ‘I am in despair’. This person finally recognizes that this feeling of emptiness is not new (this feeling points toward the eternal), but has just been hidden from their own view.
On the other hand, perhaps someone knows very well that they are in despair. This person is more aware of their consciousness, which makes their despair more acute. This self is only interested in what it itself thinks is in its interest—an example might be an intelligent, thoughtful person who has developed a notion of what is important toward furthering their self, even of their subconscious self, yet is completely separate of any realization of the eternal, which is part of the dialectic of the self, the two sides being the temporal and the eternal. Indeed, “even if this self does not go so far into despair that it becomes an imaginatively constructed god—no derived self can give itself more than it is in itself by paying attention to itself…however, it is easy to see that this absolute ruler is a king without a country, actually ruling over nothing,” (69).
Kierkegaard starts and ends with the idea that the role of the individual Christian should orient their activities toward developing this self so that it can at last be free of despair before God, although the difficulty of actually arriving at a state free of despair is significant. This is a dense and valuable tome, powerful in message.
Thanks for the post Ross, enjoyed the summary of the two forms of despair. Thanks for letting me know about your blog.
Other literature, particularly psychological works, I have read refer to the first form of despair as a false self. False-self refers to a person that is not living authentically, but derives their worth, identity, and prestige through social norms/expectations, others expectations, and/or an illusory form of what they should do/be. Yet, in this state, they are not living from their true self nor are they answering questions for themselves; instead they live through the eyes of society or others, allowing such entity’s to tell them who and what they should be. In my personal opinion, I think it is easier to live a false-self existence, mainly because of the immediate gratification one is likely to receive from society or from others. That said, and like Kierkegaard suggests, such an existence proves to be a hollow existence in the end.
How does Kierkegaard one develop / cultivate a self comprised of balance between temporal and eternal?
Daniel, thanks for your post. Kierkegaard would call the person you mention who is living a false-self as a person of immediacy — someone living for only temporal, immediate gain. What are some of the works you allude to that touch on this topic? It is truly a fascinating and important point to work on.
Regarding Kierkegaard’s solution, he does not necessarily ever deal strictly with a balance between the temporal and eternal that I can recall, but he seems to assume that if an individual achieves a state of not being in despair, at least if they are not actually in despair (as opposed to not being in despair because they are actually deluded about their real state of despair), then the rest will follow: on page 131, although he addresses it at different places throughout, he provides the “formula” for freedom from despair that one should strive to attain: “In relating itself to itself and in willing to be itself, the self rests transparently in the power that established it.”
This self resting transparently in the power that established it, resting transparently in the power of God, is an ideal state.
Thanks for your response Ross. Some of the works that address the false / true self dichotomy – from a psychological / spiritual vantage point – is as follows:
Relational Soul: https://www.amazon.com/Relational-Soul-Moving-False-Connection/dp/0830835873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473435138&sr=8-1&keywords=relational+soul
Henri Nouwen: Reaching Out: The Three Moves of the Spiritual life https://www.amazon.com/Reaching-Out-Three-Movements-Spiritual/dp/0385236824/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1473435303&sr=8-11&keywords=henri+nouwen
Although, Dallas Willard does not, from the works I have read, use false / true self language, he does address spiritual formation within a church and societal culture that sometimes conform us into its own image as opposed to the image of Christ.
1) Spirit of the Disciplines
2) Renovation of the Heart
Also thought Kierkegaard”s emphasis upon a consciousness awareness (relating itself to itself) of one’s beliefs, motives, needs, etc as well developing a willingness to surrender/accept oneself completely was insightful. I do believe developing a self-evaluation inventory on a consistent basis to be a necessary component to effect change.
I think the above works I mentioned above help develop an authentic self from a biblical perspective.