Two eras

Author's name: Soren Kierkegaard Publisher: Al-Rafidain Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2024 Literary classification: Philosophy and Thought Brief about the book: The book consists of "three parts"; it addresses two eras, the pre-French Revolution era and what followed. Its thesis is summarized as that the current era is an introspective, rational era, but devoid of emotion; it is "a period of tepid transcendence, futile justifications, and cowardly delay." In the current era, the passion of feelings and the violence of action are replaced by "varied premeditated deliberations." It discusses the changes that occurred in family relationships and daily life; customs, social relations, and values, during and after the French Revolution, within the framework of historical changes and their reflection on individuals and those relationships. Kierkegaard took the opportunity in the book to deliver a sharp critique of the ideas of his time, also to discuss several philosophical and intellectual ideas, and to address themes that occupied his era, such as revolution, the individual, the masses, personal representation, reconciliation, envy, superficiality, chatter, and others. The important question he posed was: how does the revolutionary time affect social relationships and the individual? From this, he did not seek to understand the flow of history, but rather to understand the dialectical situation represented by a specific time and place, and how they frame the field of existence. Because historical periods open unique possibilities and impose restrictions on individuals and their hopes for religious existence. He considered the era of revolution "worthy of respect, despite its glaring flaws," compared to the present era, which "is merely a disgrace." He did not see the time of revolution as a negative matter, but rather as having multiple potentials: "The time of revolution is fundamentally emotional, and therefore the principle of contradiction remains valid."