Kierkegaard

[Ginkgo]

INFP. Continuous dissection of emotions and "self", coupled with social criticism and individualistic ethical philosophy. Reeks of Fi+Ne to me. Furthermore, there is a lack of structure and "system building" mechanics that one would see in an INXJ format.

 

[the state i am in]

INFP. Continuous dissection of emotions and "self", coupled with social criticism and individualistic ethical philosophy. Reeks of Fi+Ne to me. Furthermore, there is a lack of structure and "system building" mechanics that one would see in an INXJ format.

infps do not inherently dissect the self more than infjs. that just comes with e4.

as far as system building goes, infjs are far more like infps than intjs. that's Te at work, or perhaps Ti. it rarely accompanies the wholism of F, which is more wandering, non-linear, episodic, essayistic, etc.

the social criticism angle, i find to be the strongest point. infjs try to tweak, reinterpret, understand, reveal, etc. infps critique (via their Fi values framework). both can be very judgy and fixated on specific values, but Fi swells until it can better absorb the contradictions into itself, whereas Ni reframes until it can see a problem from all possible angles (goal: omniscience).

i think of a classic infp social critic as theodor adorno. does kierkegaard fit into that role well?

 

[Kaveri]

Having read a description of Ni and two of Kierkegaard's books, I think that Kierkegaard is an INFJ.

 

[Bubbleboy]

Didn't he spend years obsessing with placing everything into the order of aestethics and ethics? It seems to me that everything in his work is about placing things in their right place in the world in order to understand them. I always assumed a perciever would do it the other way around, if ever.

 

[Kaveri]

When I read Kierkegaard, I feel like I'm (or his writing is) dancing on the edge of what can be expressed through words and what can't. That's very Ni. Also, I have read that Ni is full of paradoxes and is often expressed in aphorisms, and that's how Kierkegaard writes. He writes about paradoxes and he writes about them metaphorically, even aphoristically. What he writes about is really a realm of mysticism, and he depicts it gracefully with original metaphors. (His most famous metaphor, "leap of faith", he actually got from Lessing, but his text is full of these metaphors.)

Sometimes Ni and Fi are hard to tell apart but in this case I feel very strongly that Kierkegaard is Ni-dom. And most probably INFJ.

 

[Bubbleboy]

I have to say INFJ as well. What little I've read of him is about compartmentalization and placing every concievable thought, gesture or feeling in a labeled box. His keen ability to judge and understanding of control supercedes that of most other "heavy-weight" philosophers.

 

[anarchos]

Here's a physical desription of Kierkegaard from a friend of his brother:

"I found [his appearance] almost comical. He was then twenty-three years old; he had something quite irregular in his entire form and had a strange coiffure. His hair rose almost six inches above his forehead into a tousled crest that gave him a strange, bewildered look."

And here's a sketch of him writing in a cafe:

Now tell me these do not SCREAM of 'P'. XD

 

[CloudCuckooLander]

I would say INFP. His writing and viewpoints are a very good showcase of Fi-Ne in action - personal ethics, personal theology (actually, one of the staples of his religious viewpoint is that faith must be experienced from a personal subjective standpoint), personal everything. I'd actually have considered ISFP with an active Ni before INFJ, but he seems quite clearly Ne.

 

[KDude]

I've only read a couple of books (Fear and Trembling and Works of Love), but I'd agree on INFP. I almost want to bundle him with a lot of romantic poets who seemed INFP as well... he just seemed to express his thoughts in the same fashion, except in philosophy (I can't really justify what I'm seeing there. Just my 2c).

 

[OrangeAppled]

"I found [his appearance] almost comical. He was then twenty-three years old; he had something quite irregular in his entire form and had a strange coiffure. His hair rose almost six inches above his forehead into a tousled crest that gave him a strange, bewildered look."

Crazy hair = INFP, not INFJ

 

[Requeim]

Crazy hair always wins the argument

 

[Killjoy]

Ah, Yes. The number one rule of MBTI - Appearance always denotes type.