The Knight of Faith - between Existentialism and Mysticism

This paper investigates the similarities and differences of existential and mystical experience. The Knight of Faith, a main figure of Soren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling, is compared with the concept of a man of faith in mysticism (Zhuangzi, The Cloud of Unknowing, the texts of Meister Eckhart and Teresa of Avila). The article estimates critically Kierkegaard's relation to "mysticism", reveals the ambiguity of the concept and draws an analogy between Kierkegaard's and mystics' style. The analogy between existentialism and mysticism is found in the central role of experience. Experience influences the person's whole existence, manifests itself in everyday life and generates an experiential knowledge. The main differences between existentialism and mysticism are highlighted in an analysis of individual consciousness and its importance before an experience and after it. The research will show that the mystical experience neither contradicts nor negates existential experience, but embraces and transcends it as existential experience embraces and transcends the everyday experience.