Directions: For this assignment, which will be graded as a test, you are to write an essay on the
following question:
Soren Kierkegaard felt that all true human experience was individual and subjective; that, to be
truly alive, you had to experience things. This included one’s experience with God.
For this essay,
a. explain Kierkegaard’s philosophy and how his unique understanding of truth influenced
his understanding and belief in God.
b. Show how the following Buddhist story exemplifies Kierkegaard’s understanding of God:
Buddhist Story:
A man once asked a Buddhist monk to tell him what God is like. The Buddist monk said
that trying to explain God is like four blind men trying to describe an elephant.
“The first blind man touches the elephant’s trunk and says that the elephant is like a
hose or a snake.
The second blind man touches the elephant’s ear and says the elephant is like a large
winged bat.
The third blind man touches the elephant’s leg and says the elephant is like a stone
column.
The fourth blind man touches the elephant’s side and says the elephant is like a large
wall.
The blind men begin to argue and begin to fight over their understanding of the elephant.
This is how it is with God.”
