Q: Why is despair somewhat equivocal with sin for Kierkegaard?
In answering the basis of the relationship between despair and sin; I intend to firstly consider what Kierkegaard understands to be the despair, why an individual might be in despair, what the solution might be and how sin relates to despair.
Kierkegaard describes man as a synthesis of body [finite] and spirit [infinite], but notes that he is not yet whole until he acquires a self. This incompleteness is what Kierkegaard refers to as despair. Kierkegaard introduces the reader to three forms of despair: I can be unconscious that I am in despair because I do not know that I need to be whole. I can want not to be whole because I am so fatigued with the effort of attempting to pull myself together. Alternatively I can despair because in trying to pull myself together I discover that I simply can't do it.
For the self, being a self is an issue; it can respond to this problem either negatively by suppressing one aspect of this synthesis [choosing either the body or the spirit], or positively by relating to itself as a whole self. Either way the self is an issue because without it we are incomplete and in despair.
The solution to the problem of despair according to Kierkegaard is that in willing to be it's whole self "the self is grounded transparently in the Power which posited it". In other words man is only complete, despair is only eradicated and the issue of being a self is only resolved by means of a relationship with God. Such a solution cannot be demonstrated to be the case; but must instead be willing accepted by the individual on the basis of faith.
For Kierkegaard once the individual becomes conscious of this reality it is a sin to remain in despair and not choose faith. Sin is the decision to escape the painful reality that one needs to be whole, by continuing to act as though such action is unnecessary. To remain in despair despite knowledge that a solution exists
In answering the basis of the relationship between despair and sin; I intend to firstly consider what Kierkegaard understands to be the despair, why an individual might be in despair, what the solution might be and how sin relates to despair.
Kierkegaard describes man as a synthesis of body [finite] and spirit [infinite], but notes that he is not yet whole until he acquires a self. This incompleteness is what Kierkegaard refers to as despair. Kierkegaard introduces the reader to three forms of despair: I can be unconscious that I am in despair because I do not know that I need to be whole. I can want not to be whole because I am so fatigued with the effort of attempting to pull myself together. Alternatively I can despair because in trying to pull myself together I discover that I simply can't do it.
For the self, being a self is an issue; it can respond to this problem either negatively by suppressing one aspect of this synthesis [choosing either the body or the spirit], or positively by relating to itself as a whole self. Either way the self is an issue because without it we are incomplete and in despair.
The solution to the problem of despair according to Kierkegaard is that in willing to be it's whole self "the self is grounded transparently in the Power which posited it". In other words man is only complete, despair is only eradicated and the issue of being a self is only resolved by means of a relationship with God. Such a solution cannot be demonstrated to be the case; but must instead be willing accepted by the individual on the basis of faith.
For Kierkegaard once the individual becomes conscious of this reality it is a sin to remain in despair and not choose faith. Sin is the decision to escape the painful reality that one needs to be whole, by continuing to act as though such action is unnecessary. To remain in despair despite knowledge that a solution exists
