A review by pithingcontest
Fear and Trembling and the Sickness Unto Death by Søren Kierkegaard, Søren Kierkegaard

reflective

3.5

[7/10] Do I agree with what he concludes? Almost never. Do I appreciate his philosophy? Absolutely. Really liked the dissection of faith as a purely irrational endeavor—he writes the concept of "faith cannot be rationalized, because if it could, it would be meaningless" (not a quote) far more eloquently than I ever could. Some of his points itch the same part of my brain that makes me love philosophy so much; that feeling of being understood by a long-dead author who already wrote all of my thoughts and ideas, even if I hadn't fully formulated them yet. It's extremely funny to me how I could read his argument, agree with most of it, and then come to completely opposite conclusions. As a staunch atheist, reading Christian theology has always been so fascinating to me, and Kierkegaard is no exception.

I can absolutely see why The Sickness unto Death has had such a lasting impact on existentialism and philosophy writ large, holy fuck. It's like Nausea on steroids.

Now to read Either/Or.