On the Subject: From Hegel to Kierkegaard

Abstract

kierkegaard’s theory of the “subject” was merely an attempt by the Danish philosopher to undo the Hegelian vision of the subject; to save Hegelian philosophy from itself. This paper tries to probe the evolution of the Kierkegaardian subject, beginning with its earliest roots in aesthetics, from morality through to the religious conception of the subject. According to Kierkegaard, true self-realization is only possible with outright surrender to God, a fact which presupposes the triumph of faith and a subjugation of rationality and the mind.