Pseudonyms and existentialism. Since his time existential approaches to philosophy about life have grown very greatly in influence and also appeared in several forms influenced by numerous writers and thinkers. Adorno, on the other hand, in his Habilitationsschrift, later published as Kierkegaard: Construction of the Aesthetic, is critical of Kierkegaard’s politics, though Adorno’s indirect target was Heidegger and existentialism more generally. In summary, it is evident that a good definition of existentialism is difficult to produce because existentialism is, by the nature of the movement, against narrow, hard-bound classification. We now turn to our two examples of existentialism. I. Sören Kierkegaard (1813-1855) The origins of Existentialism Kierkegaard and Sartre Soren Kierkegaard was the first philosopher to actually consider that he wrote about Existentialism. Søren Kierkegaard’s two heroes were Socrates and Jesus Christ. 14.1 The Existential Tone Søren Kierkegaard is said to have inaugurated modern existentialism in the early 19th century, while Jean-Paul Sartre is said to have been the last great existentialist thinker in the 20th century. For Kierkegaard, truth must be found on an individual basis through an inward existential journey that requires a leap of faith that logic simply cannot articulate. CHAPTER 14 EXISTENTIALISM. Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian, and social critic, widely considered a founding figure in existentialism. Religious writing, the Introduction explains, should adopt the manner of a physician at a sickbed. Religious books should instead strive to engage the reader on a personal level. Some people, Kierkegaard tells us in the Preface, might expect books on religious matters to be serious and scholarly. Existentialism in its currently recognizable form was inspired by the 19th Century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, the German philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers (1883 - 1969) and Edmund Husserl, and writers like the Russian Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821 - 1881) and the Czech Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924). Søren Kierkegaard carried out most of his work under different pseudonyms such as Victor Eremita, Johannes de Silentio, Anti-Climacus, Hilarius Bookbinder, or Vigilius Haufniensis. In outlining the six pillars of existentialism, Backhouse cements Kierkegaard’s legacy as the godfather of the philosophical movement. Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher and theologian considered the father of existentialism. Summary Summary Summary Summary. Søren Kierkegaard (1813—1855) Søren Kierkegaard is an outsider in the history of philosophy. 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