The Redemption of the Feeling in Kierkegaard’s and Tillich’s Thought
The Redemption of the Feeling in Kierkegaard’s and Tillich’s Thought

Summary/Abstract: In the modern era, with the development of the “objective”, scientific method,subjective, personal feelings and emotions have gradually become somewhat dubious sources of knowledge. A few religious thinkers, however, particularly those emerging from the existential tradition, have come to revitalize the belief in subjectivity, along with the trust in the authority of faith and inwardness in finding out important truths about our personal existence and about the human condition in general. In my paper I wish to investigate and compare the thoughts of two highly influential Christian philosophers of the19th and the 20th century, respectively; those of Søren Kierkegaard and of Paul Tillich. These two unique thinkers, although living under considerably different historical circumstances, carried out strikingly similar analyses about the role of emotions and faith in human life, and through the emphasis of such phenomena as anxiety and despair they both attempted to “redeem”and reaffirm the significance of feelings and the subjective side of reality.

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