Kierkegaard's Spheres Of Existence And Boredom

Kierkegaard’s Spheres of Existence and Boredom Many forces can motivate an individual; boredom will be the main force discussed in this paper. In Kierkegaard’s sphere of existences, the aesthetic sphere mainly deals with the problem of boredom. The intent of this paper is to explain how boredom is actually necessary and good through Kierkegaard’s sphere of existences. Kierkegaard explains the how the aesthete has a shallow existence because of boredom and the unsustainability of their lifestyle. For an individual to move up through the hierarchy of spheres, one must move out of the aesthetic sphere. This movement, driven from boredom, makes boredom necessary to move up to the religious sphere. Therefore, boredom is what makes an individual …show more content…
Kierkegaard sees boredom as the “ultimate evil” and puts forth the rotation method as a means of the aesthete living. However, this boredom he describes is actually necessary to achieve the higher spheres. Due to this, boredom is not the “ultimate evil”; rather, boredom is a necessary force to drive an individual to achieve a more meaningful existence. Boredom is constantly part of life. Moving towards the religious sphere is based upon avoidance of boredom. To avoid boredom, the individual eventually strives for the religious sphere. Without boredom, one would never want to strive towards the religious sphere. This is because the individual would be content with their aesthetic life; because of this, the aesthetic sphere is essential while still being the shallowest of existences. While the religious sphere is the most meaningful to Kierkegaard, it wouldn’t be meaningful without the drive of boredom. This is how boredom is necessary; without the boredom from the aesthetic sphere, the higher two wouldn’t be worth striving towards. Overall, boredom constantly drives us toward doing actions. The entire movement through Kierkegaard’s spheres of existence is driven by the avoidance of the aesthetic sphere’s boredom. While Kierkegaard says that the religious sphere is the most meaningful existence, the religious sphere relies on the boredom for an individual to strive to achieve it. Boredom is necessary force to …show more content…
Due to the existential nature of Kierkegaard, these spheres may also depend on the individual themselves as well. Boredom might not be the sole reason for an individual to eventually achieve the higher religious sphere. There could be other additional reasons for an individual to have a meaningful existence than to be drive to escape from boredom. However, the intent of this paper was to argue boredom was the primary force driving an individual to strive for the higher spheres of existence. While the existential nature of this idea stands, I am only arguing for what Kierkegaard put forth. Boredom is the main force driving the upward movement through the spheres of existence. Boredom is not the “ultimate evil”, its actually necessary and good; it provides for a drive toward a more meaningful existence. People having more meaningful lives is essentially good, boredom provides a drive for this, so therefore boredom is seemingly good. Kierkegaard’s spheres of existence have three spheres: the aesthetic, ethical, and religious. Kierkegaard explains that boredom from the aesthetic sphere is the “ultimate evil”. However, boredom is actually a necessary and good driving force to achieve a more meaningful existence. Boredom is constantly in life; while it can drive some to do impulsive or even unethical actions, boredom is necessary to drive an individual