The goal of this thesis is to bring Rogers and Kierkegaard into productive conversation with each other, across disciplines, around the themes of self, authenticity, and relationality. The purpose is to show that people can still learn a great deal from these thinkers, particularly by reading each of them in light of the other. Rogers and Kierkegaard wrote in different historical periods and cultural settings. However, by identifying some cognate concepts (in English) we can appreciate how, for both of them, the central task of life is to promote human well-being, in community with each other, and in humble relation to a higher good or ideal. This thesis shows more specifically that Rogers' theory of person-centeredness and Kierkegaard's theory of Christian neighbor-love both reflect the conviction that being an authentic self if necessary for sustaining good relationships with others. Both authors argue that being in right relationship with others is, in turn, essential to self-actualization and authenticity.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-07-04T19:33:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 romulogomesdeoliveira.pdf: 629952 bytes, checksum: 5c6eb922d630905d0cb040685d77f711 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-07-13T16:22:19Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 romulogomesdeoliveira.pdf: 629952 bytes, checksum: 5c6eb922d630905d0cb040685d77f711 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-13T16:22:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 romulogomesdeoliveira.pdf: 629952 bytes, checksum: 5c6eb922d630905d0cb040685d77f711 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-12 / Este trabalho visa analisar alguns conceitos relevantes para a compreensão de uma filosofia da religião no pensamento de Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855), bem como a interrelação entre eles, assumindo como problemática central a relação entre ser humano particular e Deus. Embora a obra de Kierkegaard se caracterize por uma grande complexidade, este trabalho apóia-se sobre um eixo conceitual capaz de conferir uma unidade de sentido ao conjunto de seus escritos: a relação de fundamento do indivíduo em Deus no processo existencial de tornar-se si-mesmo. Este procedimento permite demonstrar a viabilidade, do ponto de vista da Ciência da Religião, de se ler a construção de uma filosofia da religião por Kierkegaard, a partir das condições necessárias para que um ser humano alcance sua individualidade efetiva. A ideia basilar deste trabalho é a de que, embora toda pessoa nasça humana, é preciso que se torne um si-mesmo, um indivíduo, pois, conforme a antropologia kierkegaardiana, a individualidade não é um dado a priori, mas a potencialidade mais específica do ser humano que só pode ser alcançada com empenho pessoal. Ela corresponde à máxima realização humana numa dimensão absoluta. Por isso, sua possibilidade está ligada a uma relação em que Deus – o absoluto – é seu único fundamento. Por meio deste trabalho, é possível inferir que Kierkegaard desenvolve uma noção própria de religião que não se restringe à dimensão cúltica nem a uma função da vida social. Trata-se de compreender a vida humana como existir diante de Deus. O modo da existência, em sua configuração necessária segundo a qualidade da relação que se estabelece com Deus, é a marca fundamental do que se pode entender por religião na filosofia kierkegaardiana. / This study aims to examine some relevant concepts to an understanding of a philosophy of religion from the Søren Aabye Kierkegaard’s thought (1813-1855) as well as the interrelationship between them, taking as a central problematic relationship between particular human being and God. Although Kierkegaard's work is characterized by great complexity, this work rests on a conceptual axis capable of conferring a sense of unity to the whole of his writings: the relationship of the individual foundation in God in the existential process of becoming oneself. This procedure allows demonstrating the viability, from the standpoint of the science of religion, to read the construction of a philosophy of religion by Kierkegaard, from the conditions necessary for a human being effectively reach his individuality. The basic idea of this work is that, while every person is born as a human being, every person must become a self, an individual, because, according to Kierkegaard anthropology, individuality is not an a priori given, but the most specific human potentiality which can be accomplished only through the personal commitment. It corresponds to the highest human achievement in absolute dimension. Therefore, its possibility is linked to a relationship that God - the absolute - is its only grounding. Through this work, we can infer that Kierkegaard develops his own concept of religion that is not restricted to the cultic dimension or to a function of a social life. It is to understand human life as there is with God. The mode of existence in its necessary configuration according to the quality of the relationship established with God, is the fundamental feature of what one can understand to be the religion in Kierkegaard’s philosophy.