Abstract

The thesis of this dissertation is that a synthetic unity between the dialectical movements which are responsible for the production of the self and of freedom causes Soren Kierkegaard to identify the fundamental nature of the self with the capability to choose which is the rudimentary form of freedom. According to Kierkegaard, the self is actualized by a dialectical relation between the infinite and the finite while freedom is actualized by a dialectical relation between possibility and necessity. This dissertation demonstrates that Kierkegaard's identification of the self with freedom is caused by a reciprocal correspondence between the infinite/finite relation and the possibility/necessity relation. The actualization of the self through the infinite/finite relation both requires and is required by the actualization of freedom through the possibility/necessity relation. The concurrent and codependent movement of these relations synthetically produces a union between the self and freedom which is the reason for Kierkegaard's identification of the self with freedom. The original contribution of the dissertation is the demonstration that the self's identity is synthetically produced as freedom because of the simultaneous movement of dialectical relations whose constituent elements reciprocally correspond to each other