Can We Have a Kierkegaardian Self Without God?: Kierkegaard, Bernard Williams and Ground Projects

Abstract

This dissertation will explore Kierkegaard's notion of the self, primarily in his work The Sickness Unto Death. While Kierkegaard claims that it is impossible for an individual to become a full self without God, this paper will show that the necessary role that God plays in self-development can be fulfilled without references to God, allowing full self-development in a secular context. As such, focus will be placed on the need for objective values and unity of the self as described by Kierkegaard, while highlighting how an iteration of Bernard Williams's view of ground projects may fulfill the necessary role Kierkegaard ascribes to God.