Single Idea 20747

[catalogued under 23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 7. Existential Action]

Full Idea

In making a choice, it is not so much a question of choosing the right way as of the energy, the earnestness, and the pathos with which one chooses.

Gist of Idea

What matters is not right choice, but energy, earnestness and pathos in the choosing

Source

Søren Kierkegaard (Either/Or: a fragment of life [1843], p.106), quoted by Kevin Aho - Existentialism: an introduction 2 'Phenomenology'

Book Reference

Aho,Kevin: 'Existentialism: an introduction' [Polity 2014], p.32


A Reaction

I'm struggling to identify with the experience he is describing. I can't imagine a more quintessentially existentialist remark than this. Reference to 'energy' in choosing strikes me as very romantic. Is 'the way not taken' crucial (in 'pathos')?