Letter to Philosopher

To: Soren Kierkegaard September 25, 2011

Dear Sir,

I am writing to express my gratitude for your writings in which you describe your thoughts about philosophy and the individual. You describe a dislike for metaphysic Hegel’s thinking because it does not relate to the individual and essentially real life experiences. According to Hegel, he thought the individual dissolves into a kind of abstract unreality. This much is true to a point; however, in my view an existentialist (yourself), train of thought seems to hold much grievances against life situations for which we have little or no control.

It seems as if you believe in a higher power of God and even place His value over love or any self-made happiness in life. It is good to love God and all he has sacrificed for us but we must also find happiness within our own hearts. I cannot comprehend your thinking that you must give up Ms. Olsen in the name of God, when God wants us to live, love and prosper while living within Him. You consider yourself to be a “religious” individual and with this you must decide all issues for yourself. But with these issues a person faces the agony of relying on their own judgment. With these judgments a person will never know if it was a correct judgment or decision. Based on your decision, did you not truly love or is your mind mangled with too much despair from earlier life experience?

According to you, despair is the “sickness-unto-death and nothing earthly can save a person from despair.” (Moore & Bruder, 2008, p.167). I think you are correct but many people live their lives filled with dread and despair because of life experiences and still manage to find some meaning of existence. Life and existence is what we make it, that much we agree on. Do we have to sacrifice aspects of life to attain other realms of existence, yes I would say we do because nothing comes without work or giving to receive. For a belief in God there should also be a belief that confirms his...