Ability and duty to choose: Søren Kierkegaard

Little dear philosophers,

Have you ever had to choose between two or more equally attractive proposals, or have you ever thought what it would have been like if you had made one decision rather than another?

Making choices is part of our life: it gives us the opportunity to mature, evolve and become better. Choosing makes us conscientious and more aware of who we are, of our actions and their consequences for ourselves and others.

If we didn’t choose what kind of human beings would we be? Certainly we aren’t tree trunks that are dragged by the water of a river: we are people with a reason that makes us different from others, that determines and that helps us to understand what to do.

To talk about the ability and also the duty to choose was the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in his work “Aut-Aut” of 1843. In his interesting investigation, he starts from the idea that each of us can choose. However, the many possibilities before us can lead us incredibly to a state of distress precisely because we do not know what might be the right choice for us. But choosing is necessary: you have to decide between the various options the one that is right for you.

How do you choose? Do you let yourself be guided by reason or by heart?

Maria Domenica Depalo