AN EXAMINATION OF SOREN KIERKEGAARD'S NOTION OF HUMAN EXISTENCE AND THE THREE STAGES OF LIFE

ABSTRACT Soren Kierkegaard’s philosophy marks the beginning of a new way of ascribing meaning to the existing being. His contribution to this new direction was to find meaning to human existence, who exists as an individual. For him, man only realizes himself and lives authentically when he excludes himself from the crowd, takes his decisions as an individual, lives his life and faces his own death all by himself. Also, to live an authentic existence, man must take a leap of faith by suspending all universal moral obligations in absolute submission to the commands of his Creator. This work seeks to examine what Kierkegaard considers to be the gauge of meaningful and authentic human existence. It argues that Kierkegaard’s notion of individuality portrays the existing individual as selfish and egoistic as it tends to isolate him and set him against the public which he belongs. This work cautions against the consequences of this and calls for man’s conscious reflection of the extent to which he exist, as against merely living. The philosophical methods of analysis and criticism are employed, and we conclude that for man to live his authentic existence, he must exclude himself from conventional laws and external forces that may negate his own individuality, as he strives toward that for which he can live or die while being mindful of his absolute duty (dedication) to the commands of his Creator.