Becoming An Individual—Kierkegaard's Existential Thought Research

"The single individual" is the central category of Kierkegaard's existentialist thought,as well as a religious category,and the "The single individual" is seen as the supreme vocation of existence,which in the Christian context means"becoming a Christian".Kierkegaard argues that the commonplace of modern man since the Enlightenment has lost not only the meaning of religious existence,but also of human existence,that the focus of his thought is on the survival of the individual,and that he points his writing to Christianity,"As a religious thinker,my entire work has to do with Christianity,with one issue:becoming a Christian." He criticizes the Hegelian system of discursive philosophy,which seeks to awaken those who are asleep in the world of Christian illusion,arguing that the goal of the individual's existence is to become "that individual," as his epitaph says,neither the illusory "universal man" nor the "public" man,but the '*The single individual " who is in contact with God and who,throughout his life,seeks the Christian truth "to live for and to die for".In his view,the Christian faith is not a set of rote dogmas,but a way of being,a special way of being,of becoming one's true self and of getting out of a desperate situation that can only depend on the Christian faith,the Christian spirit being the source of its philosophical ideas,and Kierkegaard's idea of "that individual" hoping to"compel" people who have no regard for religion to re-examine their lives and to think about the important role of religious faith in the development of a true"self' and moral life." The single individual " has three implications in Kierkegaard's philosophy:Firstly,the category of the "The single individual" is an exploration of the "individual problem" in the history of Western philosophy,and the key to becoming the single individual is to understand the "self',which occupies an important place in Kierkegaard's philosophy,which sees the self as an integrated relationship,the realization of the struggle for survival,and that only God is the true basis of the self.Secondly,the true self embodies the passion and choice of the surviving individual,and Kierkegaard transforms the analytical perspective of the surviving individual into the "choice" of the analyzing human being.Finally,the process of self-generation,that is,the way to become an individual human being,is demonstrated through the "existential discourse",which Kierkegaard's existential discourse describes the different ways in which individuals survive,from the pursuit of self in ethical survival to the self-realization of religious survival,and the important ways in which ethics,religion A and religion B become "individualized".It is worth noting,however,that in Kierkegaard's view,ethics is only a transitional stage of religious existence,and religion A is only a premise of religion B,i.e.,Christianity,and that the individual who fails to become truly individual through ethics-religion A can only become truly "individual" and a true Christian through his or her faith in Christianity.The purpose of this paper is to rethink the meaning of religious beliefs for human existence by explaining the category of "The single individual" in survival theory,to further elaborate the path of "individualization" of the person who becomes an individual in the process of survival,and to shed light on the survival dilemma faced by modern people.