Discovering that your childhood idols are now virtually ancient is usually a disturbing reminder of your own mortality. But for me, realising that 5th May 2013 marks the 200th anniversary of Søren Kierkegaard’s birth was more of a reminder of his immortality. Kierkegaard is not so much a thinker for our time but a timeless thinker, whose work is pertinent for all ages yet destined to be fully attuned to none.
ReadWe can and should anticipate getting what we want. But desire and expectation riding in tandem is different from them becoming fused, part of the same blend of belief and emotion called hope.
ReadA whole generation is growing up consuming a lot which it does not think of as stuff at all. But they are still consuming, more than ever. And although experiences may not be things, they are being bought and sold, acquired as memories and treated as commodities. If the transition we are seeing is from ownership to consumption, it may not take us very far in the direction of post-materialism after all.
ReadA man is judged by the company he keeps, but it’s not always clear what the verdict will be when he chooses to retain a friend who behaves abominably. Consorting with rogues is hardly the hallmark of an honourable gent but, at the same time, someone who doesn’t stand by his pals when the chips are down is not considered much of a mate. So what’s a true friend to do?
ReadGrowing up brings a sense of perspective and with it an escape from the infantile solipsism that makes children see themselves at the centre of time and space. It might seem odd, then, that many people have come to see this progression as a kind of degeneration and have advocated a return to childlike simplicity…
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