A Comparative Analysis of Kierkegaardian and African Existentialism

Existentialism is a philosophical trend that concerns itself with concrete experience of man. This paper comparatively studies Kierkegaard’s and African existentialism. It discovers that Western existentialism springs mainly from the notion of nothingness of human existence and man’s limiting existential conditions. Kierkegaard himself emphasizes subjective existence through the challenging experiences of life as the sure way to authentic existence. On the other hand, while positioning itself in direct opposition to this pessimistic understanding of man’s existence, African existentialism spices itself with optimism grounded in the understanding that man is the beauty and apex of God’s creation. The paper also establishes various notions of Kierkegaard’s existentialism that are comparable to that of Africans. It therefore concludes that both existential perspectives strive to understand man in his lived experiences in order to direct him towards authentic existence but from diverse points of subjective and communal life’s experiences. It concludes that African existentialism offers a more balanced attitude to life through the interplay of personal and community existence.