Kierkegaard's view of the dialectic (a term of
course inherited from Hegel)
is that the spiritual world is not attainable through direct observation but
only through the mediation of complex and opposing elements. Kierkegaard took
the Hegelian view of dialectics that sees the spiritual progression of thesis,
antithesis and synthesis. But Kierkegaard opposes Hegel in asserting that the
elastic dialectic is limited and that some categories (such as good and bad)
cannot be mediated. Another point in which Kierkegaard departs from Hegel on
the matter of dialectic is that while Hegel spoke of a conceptual dialectic
Kierkegaard speaks of an existential dialectic. This can be seen in
Kierkegaard's concepts of choice and regret in which taking the personal responsibility of choosing an
option always includes the regretful negation of another.
