抄録
Kierkegaard’s theory of the three spheres of existence has often been understood as follows; the human activity, dominant in the ethical sphere and that of Religiousness A, does no longer exist in the final sphere of Religiousness B, since the latter is filled by the passivity. This kind of interpretation may be natural since Kierkegaard’s own emphasis on the concepts of ‟paradox” and ‟leap” implies the discontinuity of the final sphere from the formers. However, as it seems to disregard another aspect of Religiousness B, this article attempts to analyze the structure of Religiousness B (Christian faith) from the viewpoint of ‟the ethical”.
First, Kierkegaard understands the concept ‟the ethical” as ‟appropriation”，i. e., the task to realize the eternal in one’s own self, in both spheres of the ethical and Religiousness A. Examining if this can be also found in Religiousness B whose essence lies in ‟contemporaneity with Christ”, I show that Kierkegaard recognizes something identical with the human activity. My understanding must be derived from Kierkegaard’s own definition of existence, i. e., the existence as a synthesis of two contradictory moments, such as the eternal and the temporal, by and in relating itself to itself, which is common to all the three spheres.
However, because of the crucial difference between Religiousness B and the former spheres, the human activity here must differ; it means a self-effort of the imitation of Christ. Though it fails as well as the preceding ones, here it is ever sustained and recovered by faith in Christ; for He is both the Prototype and Saviour.
To conclude, in the structure of Religiousness B, the human activity is not extinct, but is ever recaptured by the above-mentioned process.
