On Possibility and Necessity: Part 1, A Relation that Relates Itself to Itself

I've been reading The Sickness Unto Death by Søren Kierkegaard and was struck by his reflections regarding possibility and necessity in relation to the self. Rather than let these insights and amazing quotes slip out of my head, I'm going to gather them into three posts.

In this post I want to share Kierkegaard's definition of the self. And it's a doozy! Don't panic when you read it. I'll quickly explain. Be brave! Here's Søren's definition of the self:

"But what is the self? The self is a relation that relates itself to itself..."

Got that? The self is a relation that relates itself to itself. It sounds complex, but it's a pretty simple and powerful idea.

First, the self is a relation. That is to say, the self contains two "parts." And as a relation, the self is a synthesis of these two parts. The self is an ontological amalgamation.

So what are these two parts? They go by various names. You likely call them body and soul. But Kierkegaard calls them infinity and finitude, temporal and eternal, possibility and necessity, among other things.

So, the self is a relation, the relation or synthesis of what is eternal within us (think: the soul) with what is finite about us (think: the material body). Okay, so that's the starting relation. But the self isn't this relation. Rather, the self is how that starting relation (infinite/finite) relates itself to itself. That is to say, the self looks upon its primal relation (infinite/finite), or fails to look upon this relation, and adopts a "relation" toward it. That is, the self takes a stance or posture toward itself as a relation (infinite/finite).

The simplest example here would be an atheist who would deny that there is anything spiritual or eternal within human persons. That is, the atheist self is a relation (a denial) of the relation (infinite/finite) that constitutes human persons.

Like I said, it's a simple and powerful idea. You are a mixture of spirit and body, touched by heaven yet made of dirt. And how you relate to that mixture, that relation, constitutes your self.

Most important for Kierkegaard is that you come to see the relation (physical/spiritual) that constitutes your existence in relation to "that which established the entire relation." Which is to say, God. Your Creator, Ground, Source, and Life. Simply put, if you recognize yourself as coming from and dependent upon God, then you stand in a trusting and truthful relation with yourself.

If, however, you misperceive the ground of yourself, or fail to perceive that ground, you stand in a misrelation with yourself. You fail to see the relation—the mixture of eternity and dirt—that makes you human. Kierkegaard calls this misrelation "the sickness unto death" and "despair." Despair is the result of failing to recognize and live in trusting relation to the Ground that established and establishes your being.

Okay, having defined the self as the relation that relates itself to itself—which is to say how you stand in relation to the fact that you are mixture of time and eternity, infinity and finitude, heaven and earth—Kierkegaard goes on to describe the various manifestations our despair might take. For the two posts to come the misrelation concerns how the human is a mixture of necessity (which corresponds to our material finitude) and possibility (our connection to God). More anon.