The concept of universal, or the universality of
the ethical, is a
term borrowed by Kierkegaard from Hegel in order to relate to morals. The idea in the universality
of the ethical is that morals is something common to all that exists in the
common sphere and in relation to it (unlike the personal hedonistic aesthetic or the personal
religious faith). The universal for Kierkegaard is a noble
moral aspiration in its broadest terms. It has to do with social norms and it
is the product of reason shared by all. The Universal for Kierkegaard regards
all that is common to the individual and other people, from marriage to civic duties.
But unlike his contemporary
Hegelian thinkers, for Kierkegaard the universal has moral value only when the
individual seeks to realize it out of his own conscience and at his own
responsibility (see Kierkegaard's concept of choice). Kierkegaard strictly denies any universal which is
upheld by means of tradition, habit, gain of simply conformism, since the
universal for him should only originate in the original self. The relationship
with the universal is both a personal (his broken engagement) and theoretical
focus of Kierkegaard's existential philosophy. For example Kierkegaard
determines his three
spheres of existence (the aesthetic, ethical and religious faith) through their differing
stand towards the universal. In his famous Fear and Trembling Kierkegaard tries to consider
Abraham's deeds in relation to the universal, and he asks the question of
whether the universal can be suspended for an individual purpose.
