Kierkegaard and Nancy's Problematization of the Self, Singularity, Individuality, and Existence

Kierkegaard states that self is a relation that relates itself to its own self. We can see that Kierkegaard is trying to say that a human being is a synthesis of the constant and the measurable of the eternal and the temporal of freedom and necessity (Schroeder 72). On the other hand, Nancy says that "self" is an infinite relation to self which has no competition as it is more than opening and referral. Nancy says that self is neither a substance nor a subject as it is in itself, to itself as it hears itself and hears that it hears but whatever it hears is the distance from the self that opens up as self. Kierkegaard is known to have reminded us of and made it clear that the singular par excellence is not what is called concrete universal but the individual that is immediately born into existence ("Part II. Consciousness, Existence, and Action: Kierkegaard and Sartre" 11). Through this fact, Kierkegaard was in the position to escape idealism and therefore recovered the realist version to intelligence. Nancy, on the other hand, attempts to negate the subject dichotomy while creating a new context for the re-evaluation of resistance in his The Inoperative Community and Being Singular Plural. The philosophy of singularity puts forward the humanist point of view polarizing community and individuality unnecessarily through refuting individualistic subjectivity in the philosophy (Schroeder 70).

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In Kierkegaard's philosophy of individuality and the reason why people submit and the power of the minority, he states that the truth always lies with the minority since the minority is usually formed by those who have an opinion while the majority's strength is illusionary and is mostly comprised of gangs who lack opinion ("Part II. Consciousness, Existence, and Action: Kierkegaard and Sartre" 13). Additionally, in his insight on the psychology of online trolling and bullying, Kierkegaard considers how the incapacity of people to quietly contemplate cuts off from their true self and cause them adapt by passive absorption the ideas of others instead. On the other hand, Nancy states that an individual does not need others to exist nor to get an understanding of itself. This is because individuality is logically impossible since it is completely essentially inborn where there exists no others or difference. Nancy's logic, therefore, denies emancipation since all things that are completely inherent denies all the possibilities and freedoms and therefore making individuality impossible ("Introduction: Philosophies of Individualism" 9).

Nancy's philosophy on existence states that being-in-the-world is made up by being-with and uses the word singular to signify that which is not reducible to any form of a possibility of identity, gathering or property but its multiplicity and rationality also constitutes its singularity ("Introduction: Philosophies of Individualism" 8). Therefore, according to Nancy, being-with can only occur only on the basis of a relationship with death which already exists and thus opening up existence as a primary being with that that allows singularity and individuality of existing. Kierkegaard, on the other hand, developed an existential dialect against Hegel's philosophy that proved that history and humanity have an ultimate goal and a pervasive rationality that drives history forward by coming up with his personal dialect that had no ultimate purpose nor a rational direction. He rejects the idea that scientific knowledge is a means of redeeming humanity and instead refers to it as one of the greatest obstacles to redemption. His dialect was, therefore, individualistic stating that people are faced with the various lifestyles and despite each having the ability to dictate its own priorities or rationality, there would be no reason for choosing one lifestyle over the other ("Introduction: Philosophies of Individualism" 6).

In regard to Kierkegaard's emphasis on the concepts of synthesis, I agree with him because the truth is real sense comes to be known through synthesizing through various objects but not just a matter of discovering objective facts (Schroeder 73). This is because despite objective facts being important, there is always a second and more crucial bit of the truth that involves how one relates him or herself to the matters of fact. Therefore, to achieve this hidden second bit of truth, one has to synthesize through the various situations since truth is to be found in subjectivity rather than objectivity. On the other hand, I agree with Nancy's stress on the constructive plurality of who we are since the human community is not something strange to people in the sense that we can consider it cool, unbiased and neutral manner as we all live in a space within the same community.

Therefore, it is common and nonetheless contentious conduct of people living together because as soon as people exist together, the human community is known to enfold people together, hold them and carry them such that even the loneliest person remains within its horizon ("Introduction: Philosophies of Individualism" 8). The similarities between these two positions by Kierkegaard and Nancy is that both philosophers look into how people relate to each other either for the purpose of co-existing together or to learn about the truth of various issues.

Conclusion

In our today's society, the insights by these two philosophers are important in that, they teach us on how to peacefully co-exist with each other within our community setting. For instance, the humanitarian conflicts that are being experienced in many countries of the world such as Syria and the border of Israel and Palestine can be resolved when people learn that when people live together they can become one thing and forget the border and religious differences that exist between them. Also, the insights from these philosophers can help those involved in the fights understand and know the underlying truth about the existing causes of conflicts that they experience.

Works Cited

"Introduction: Philosophies of Individualism." The Free Market Existentialist, 2015, pp. 1-9.

"Part II. Consciousness, Existence, and Action: Kierkegaard and Sartre." Praxis and Action,

Schroeder, Marcin. "The Philosophy of Philosophies: Synthesis through Diversity." Philosophies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2015, pp. 68-72.

"The Philosophy of Philosophies: Synthesis through Diversity." Philosophies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2015, pp. 68-72.