Philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard Søren Kierkegaard's philosophy
has been a major influence in the development of 20th century
philosophy, especially existentialism and postmodernism.
Kierkegaard was a 19th century Danish philosopher who has been
called the "Father of Existentialism". His philosophy also
influenced the development of existential psychology.
Kierkegaard criticized aspects of the philosophical systems that
were brought on by philosophers such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel before him and the Danish Hegelians. He was also
indirectly influenced by the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. He
measured himself against the model of philosophy which he found
in Socrates, which aims to draw one's attention not to
explanatory systems, but rather to the issue of how one exists.
One of Kierkegaard's recurrent themes is the importance of
subjectivity, which has to do with the way people relate
themselves to (objective) truths. In Concluding Unscientific
Postscript to Philosophical Fragments, he argues that "subjec