Kierkegaard didn't have it quite right: it isn't that there is a leap of faith outside of reason, exclusive of reason, that leads us to truth...it's that the "leap of faith" goes hand-in-hand with reason to lead one of us small, finite, fallible humans to a point of "knowing" something. The leap of faith is an inherent part of human "knowing," *along with* reason. One is not performed "in spite of" the other but rather in cooperation with the other. (synthesis, indeed) It is the blind faith which has no connection with reason which is to be feared, as the lame (or soon to be insane) reason, which has no connection with faith, is to be feared and avoided...
Anyway.
I've been oh-so-slowly learning more about the existentialists, and I've read a little little bit of their writings...I think that they may have made some important "next steps" philosophy, taken human thought the next "few steps" that needed taking...like all humans or human efforts, they have their flaws, and I think that they fell short in their conclusitons...or, perhaps, rather, fell off to one side...but I still think that they contributed very usefully, that they advanced human thought in a way that needed advancing at this point in human existence.
Like I said, though, I've only read very very little of the existentialists. This is just my preliminary observation, based on a quick skimming of the movement. My views might change as I get further in.
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