Thematization of ‘internal reality’: from Augustine to Kierkegaard

The article addresses existential issues in the philosophy of Augustine, Descartes and Kierkegaard, which can be interpreted in a broader manner as a problem of “inner reality” of an individual. One of the main goals of this work is to identify not the specifics of successive philosophical ideas, but the defining trend in philosophy for many centuries. So, turning to the nearest thing - the inner world in Augustine’s philosophy with all its contradictions - becomes a challenging task, which is not always possible to solve. Two major topics are covered: the experience of return to oneself and the intention to realize oneself as a kind of joint “convergence” between Augustine and Descartes, although the topology of their paths is completely different - from the unconditional acceptance and faith of Augustine to the total doubt of Descartes. Bringing human mind to the fore and representing it as a basic principle of philosophy and science, Descartes is, without a doubt, implementing a reform that has a deep meaning and enduring value for individuals and cultures. His “Сogitо” teaches people to actively shape their “selves”, identifies the priority of thinking above the substance of the body. This phenomenon contains something new, that distinguishes the man of Descartes from the anthropological images of the entire previous tradition, namely the change in goals and priorities in view of the growing secularization and the emergence of a new scientific paradigm of thinking. The apparent lack of “existentiality” in Descartes’ model would only be balanced in the twentieth century with the emergence of existentialism, immediately preceded by Kierkegaard with his passionate song of despair. The works of this Danish thinker continued the painful “internal dialogue” with oneself developed by his great predecessors.