Fear and Trembling Themes

Fear and Trembling Themes

Accept your fate.

Like the Hindu philosophy that exists around Dharma, Kierkegaard urges his reader to accept their fate, instead of taking one of the four defensive options that he outlines in "Exordium" and "Eulogy." To Kierkegaard, fate seems to mean that each human life is built with a specific set of purposes, and that by committing ourselves to religious faith, we can actually live out the destinies that we feel called toward, but which we often fail because we can't overcome the fear. Accepting fate is the same process that helped Abraham to be faithful to his call, even when other people would have said he was crazy.

Trust the universe.

By trusting the universe, Kierkegaard means that when we feel compelled by religious instinct, we can trust those feelings. Typically, these moments will involve the voluntary sacrifice of something that matters deeply. It's important to remember that although Abraham's story is grandiose and difficult to believe, that the archetypal value of the story is that we can trust the universe.

Don't fall for academic tricks.

Kierkegaard analyzes multiple points of view in this book, but essentially, the main thrust of his opinion seems to be that philosophers who accept that there is no God tend to also dismiss the human obligation to accept one's fate. This means that Kierkegaard wants each reader to consider for themselves what God is, and if God exists, because Kierkegaard believes that academia sometimes clouds what we could know obviously by accepting our fate.

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