Abstraction
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Abstraction is the process of generalizing rules and concepts from specific examples, literal signifiers, first principles, or other methods. The result of the process, an abstraction, is a concept th
Cat on Mat (picture 1)
Søren Kierkegaard
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Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on
Abstraction
…its name becomes a general name that is applicable to any existing thing that fits that abstract idea." (2.11.9) Danish philosopher and existentialist Søren Kierkegaard argued that, since human thought always works by abstracting from a concrete existent, i.e., whenever one thinks of some concrete thing, he must transform…
Unfinished sketch of Kierkegaard by his cousin Niels Christian Kierkegaard, Royal Library, Copenhagen, c. 1840
Søren Kierkegaard.―Hand-drawn copy (1895) of a pencil drawing in the portraiture collection of the Royal Library
When Michael (Mikael) Kierkegaard died on 9 August 1838, Søren had lost both his parents and all his brothers and sisters except for Peter who later became Bishop of Aalborg in the Danish State Lutheran Church.
From left to right: Wolff, Holberg, Hamann, Lessing, Plato and Socrates, all of whom became influences in Kierkegaard's philosophy.