Kierkegaard's Individual, Religious Life vs His Ethical Life and Universality; Are they really mutually exclusive as Kierkegaard claims? Suggested Subject: Humanities:Philosophy:Ethics

Religion. Ethics. Faith. Morality. Things that you would expect to go together, right? That depends on who you ask. In his book, Fear and Trembling, Soren Kierkegaard asserts that life is made up of distinct stages and that the ethical life and the religious life are two quite different stages. He says that the ethical life is one of self-sufficiency and infinite resignation while dealing with the universal aspects of ethics. He depicts the religious …

…first realize that they can't truly hope to have any sort of relationship with God if they don't see the value in ethical behavior. If they refuse to recognize the universal ties between them and the rest of the world and instead choose to believe they live in a vacuum, such a relationship can't exist. Only by reaching out to others can the individual hope to reach places they have, thus far, only dreamed of.