The Elusive First Nature

The Elusive First Nature

"Now faith certainly may become a person's second nature, but a person for whom it becomes second nature must certainly have had a first nature, inasmuch as faith became the second. If that fact is to be naturalized, then with respect to the individual it may be said that the individual is born with faith--that is, with his second nature" (96).

In the passage above, Kierkegaard says that faith is our second nature, and therefore states that we must also have a first nature. If faith is our second nature, then what exactly would our first nature be? Would it be a sort of original, blank slate, perhaps including the condition for faith, that exists prior to one obtains faith through a situation such as the moment? It seems that the first nature would necessarily exclude faith, but of what exactly does Kierkegaard believe that it consists?