Soren Kierkegaard vs Friedrich Nietzsche vs Jean-Paul Sartre
Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Sartre are the three thinkers most often grouped as the founders and consummator of existentialism. Each insists that the existing individual cannot be subsumed in any system, and each treats the analysis of how a person actually lives as more philosophically fundamental than the construction of metaphysical doctrines. Their disagreements are no less sharp than their family resemblance.
Key differences at a glance
| Soren Kierkegaard | Friedrich Nietzsche | Jean-Paul Sartre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status of God | Object of an absolute personal relation through the leap of faith. | Dead; new values must be created without religious consolation. | Absent in principle; existence precedes essence. |
| Verdict on Christianity | The ultimate paradox demanding non-rational personal commitment. | Slave morality whose hold on Europe must be overcome. | Object of bad faith; treats freedom as gift rather than condemnation. |
| Who the call is for | The single individual standing before God. | The higher type capable of affirming life. | Every human being, condemned to freedom. |
| Mode of authentic existence | Inwardness and the leap of faith. | Self-overcoming and the affirmation of life. | Commitment through chosen projects in conditions of contingency. |
Biographical facts
| Soren Kierkegaard | Friedrich Nietzsche | Jean-Paul Sartre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 1813 – 1855 | 1844 – 1900 | 1905 – 1980 |
| Nationality | Danish | German | French |
| Era | Modern | Modern | Contemporary |
| Profile | Soren Kierkegaard → | Friedrich Nietzsche → | Jean-Paul Sartre → |
Where they agree
All three held that the conventional moralities and systems of their day fail the existing individual, all three treated decisive choice as the mark of genuine philosophical seriousness, and all three wrote in unconventional literary forms — pseudonymous works, aphorisms, plays and novels — that resist treatment as standard philosophical doctrine.
Where they disagree
The disagreements are organized around God and the universality of the existential demand. Kierkegaard's existing individual stands before God in an absolute relation that demands the leap of faith — a non-rational personal commitment to Christianity as the ultimate paradox. Nietzsche held that the death of God is the central event of modernity and that Christianity is the slave morality whose hold on Europe must be overcome; only the higher type can affirm life through the creation of new values. Sartre democratized the move: every human being is condemned to freedom and to the project of self-creation, and authentic existence is available to anyone who refuses bad faith.
Representative quotes
Soren Kierkegaard
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“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Det er ganske sandt, hvad Philosophien siger, at Livet maa forstaaes baglænds. Men derover glemmer man den anden Sætning, at det maa leves forlænds. -
“Purity of heart is to will one thing.”
The two guides call out to a man early and late. And yet, no, for when remorse calls to a man it is always late. The call to find the way again by seeking out God in the confession of sins is always at the eleventh hour. Whether you are young or old, whether you have sinned much or little, whether you have offended much or neglected much, the guilt makes this call come at the eleventh hour. The in -
“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”
How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought , they demand freedom of speech .
Friedrich Nietzsche
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“Postcard to Franz Overbeck , Sils-Maria (30 July 1881), tr. Walter Kaufmann , The Portable Nietzsche (1954)”
I am utterly amazed, utterly enchanted! I have a precursor , and what a precursor! I hardly knew Spinoza : that I should have turned to him just now , was inspired by "instinct." Not only is his overtendency like mine—namely to make all knowledge the most powerful affect — but in five main points of his doctrine I recognize myself; this most unusual and loneliest thinker is closest to me precisely -
“Here the ways of men part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire.”
Letter to Elisabeth Nietzsche, Bonn, 1865-06-11, [ specific citation needed ] quoted as epigraph in Walter Kaufmann, The Faith of a Heretic (1961) -
“Letter to Elisabeth Nietzsche, Bonn, 1865-06-11, [ specific citation needed ] quoted as epigraph in Walter Kaufmann, The Faith of a Heretic (1961)”
Here the ways of men part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire.
Jean-Paul Sartre
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“Hell is other people.”
Alors, c'est ça l'enfer. Je n'aurais jamais cru... vous vous rappelez: le soufre, le bûcher, le gril... ah! Quelle plaisanterie. Pas besoin de gril, l'enfer, c'est les autres. -
“Existence precedes essence.”
L'existence précède et commande l'essence. -
“Man is condemned to be free.”
Existentialism Is a Humanism, 1946
Pairwise comparisons
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- Full profile: Soren Kierkegaard
- Full profile: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Full profile: Jean-Paul Sartre
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