Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( or ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danish
philosopher, theologian, poet,
social critic and religious author who is widely considered to be the first
existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on
organized religion,
Christendom,
morality,
ethics,
psychology, and the
philosophy of religion, displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony and
parables. Much of his philosophical work deals with the issues of how one lives as a "single individual", giving priority to concrete human reality over abstract thinking and highlighting the importance of personal choice and commitment. He was against literary critics who defined
idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time.
Swedenborg,
Hegel,
Goethe,
Fichte,
Schelling,
Schlegel and
Hans Christian Andersen were all "understood" far too quickly by "scholars".