Assignment:
Read the selection in the files section "From the Journals of Soren Kierkegaard." Among other themes, existentialists stress action, commitment, and subjectivity. How does the quote from Kierkegaard's Journal fit in with these themes? What do you think is Kierkegaard's main point in the quote? What do you think?
From The Journals of Soren Kierkegaard, August 1, 1835
What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain understanding must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do; the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die. What would be the use of discovering so-called objective truth, of working through all the systems of philosophy and of being able, if required, to review them all and show up the inconsistencies within each system;--what good would it do me to be able to develop a theory of the state and combine all the details into a single whole, and so construct a world in which I did not live, but only held up to the view of others;--what good would it do me to be able to explain the meaning of Christianity if it had no deeper significance for me and my life;--what good would it do me if truth stood before me , cold and naked, not caring whether I recognized her or not, and producing in me a shudder of fear rather than a trusting devotion? I certainly do not deny that I still recognize an imperative of understanding and that through it one can work upon men, but it must be taken up into my life, and that is what I now recognize as the most important thing. That is what my soul longs after, as the African desert thirsts for water.
Your answer must be, typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format.