Søren Kierkegaard was considered the father of philosophy, theology and existentialism. His philosophical ideas conflicted with those of Hegel. Kierkegaard believed that reason with its clarity and objectivity could not be implemented in the concrete reality of humanity. “Whether Kierkegaard was influenced by the nineteenth-century notion of evolutionary change or felt the need for an expository device, he proposes three 'stages of life's journey', three types of existence.” The three phases of existence are known as aesthetic, ethical and religious. The religious mode is considered one of the most important phases of life where it teaches one to take the leap of faith. The aesthetic way of life is one in which choice is not taken seriously and in which one's needs are satisfied. The ethical phase is the recognition of the authority of virtue and duty. According to Kierkegaard, free will is realized through the three phases of existence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Kierkegaard emphasizes the importance of how the three phases of existence influence a person's decisions thus determining his quality or character. The person we already are and the person we will become is due to the choices we make. Kierkegaard states: “There are conditions of life in which it would be ridiculous or a kind of imbalance to apply one or the other, but there are also people whose souls are too dissolute to understand the implications of such a dilemma, whose personalities they lack the energy to say with pathos: either/or”. Every choice you make matters to your character because even if your choices are trivial, many meaningless choices will add up and gain meaning. «It is important that he chooses well, that he puts himself to the test, so that in the end he does not have to start a painful retreat back to the point from which he began, and that he thanks God if he has nothing to blame himself for other than having wasted his time». You shouldn't worry about bad decisions you make now because those decisions can help you make better ones in the future. Without the power of choice, there is no human existence. The power of choice is the decisions we make to create our will that develops our character. In the second section, Kierkegaard believes that the sole purpose of human existence is due to the power of choice. It describes how the power of choice is made up of two choices: ethical and aesthetic choices. Kierkegaard states that ethical choices are more rigid than aesthetic ones because aesthetic choices do not have a major impact on one's life. For example, choosing what to wear to school or choosing which utensils to write with has no effect on your life. When making an aesthetic choice, you shouldn't consider good or bad. “The aesthetic choice is either completely immediate, and therefore not chosen, or it is lost in a great multiplicity”. For aesthetic choices to have value, they must be made in an instant because if you take your time it will only diminish their value to the point that they have no impact on your life. «So the ethical choice is in a certain sense much easier, much simpler, but in another sense it is infinitely more difficult». Making ethical choices is simpler because of the longer duration of time to think about your decision, but at the same time complex because you have to consider what is wrong and what is right during the time of the decision. Kierkegaard then states that those who follow only aesthetic choices will never arrive at the transfiguration which is the highest dedication. Those who are made up of aesthetic choices will produce a weak aspiration thus leading them to a mentality in which they think they can't make mistakesnever. People who only make aesthetic choices are destined to settle for short-tempered pleasures so they will not be able to achieve the desired results. higher dedication necessary to make ethical choices. “We encounter views of life that teach that we should enjoy life, but the condition for it is found in the individual himself, yet in such a way that it is not set by him himself.” We must understand when we should enjoy life through our pleasures and when to endure pains to receive higher pleasures. You can play video games to gain short-term pleasure, or you can study to do well on an exam to gain higher pleasure. The pain is studying, but because you have sacrificed the brief pleasure, you are able to gain high pleasures that will ultimately benefit your life. “But desire itself is a multiplicity, and therefore it is easy to see that this life is divided into a boundless multiplicity, except in so far as desire in a given individual has been limited since childhood to a given desire, which then might rather called inclination”. A person may have the inclination to do something but his inner self may not want it, rather it is the external factors that force you to make a decision. The decision to become a doctor may not be a decision made by yourself, but it is a decision made by others who tell you the benefits of the career. Ethical lifestyle is more than conforming to duty, it is the passion to help others. “Ethics is defined as duty, and duty in turn as a multiplicity of particular rules, but the individual and duty stand outside each other”. Choosing to live life ethically means acting in accordance with the law and doing the right thing for others. The ethical choice involves more personality than the aesthetic choice, so in doing the right thing there is no need to decide whether something is ethical or not because the duty within itself knows that it is correct. “The ethical is the universal and therefore the abstract. This is why in its perfect abstraction the ethical is always interdictory." The ethical choice takes the form of a law in which it is possible to distinguish right from wrong, thus making the ethical choice more significant than an aesthetic choice. The religious phase is the final way of life where the rules do not apply. In section six, Kierkegaard explains that reason cannot be applied to one's decision when taking the leap of faith. “Faith is precisely this paradox that the single individual is above the universal – however, mind you, in such a way that the movement repeats itself, so that after being in the universal he, as a single individual, isolates himself as at the above the universal”. Kierkegaard uses the story of Abraham and his son Isaac to explain the act of faith. When Abraham and his wife are unable to conceive a child, God grants them a son. After a life spent with his son Isaac, Abraham finds himself having to make a huge decision. God asks Abraham to kill his son to prove his faithfulness. “He acts by virtue of the absurd, because it is precisely the absurd that he, as a single individual, is superior to the universal”. Abraham's decision-making process goes beyond reason and leaves it to religious choice. Abraham takes the leap of faith and kills his son to show the utmost faith in God. Therefore the religious choice cannot be related to the aesthetic choice or to the ethical choice because it goes beyond universal law, which is why it is considered an act of faith. With the act of faith, Abraham proves to God that he is truly Christian. If you have doubts, believe in God because his faith will lead you in the right direction. Kierkegaard says: “Without risk there is no faith.” If you don't take the leap of faith then there is no faith, and you cannot be called true.