Abstract

If fatherhood is a role of man that is decisively important for an ecological family life then his formation, his duties and his attitudes are a proper subject for enquiry. Though this topic is treated very sparingly by philosophers, insights from Kierkegaard, Ortega y Gasset and others will be investigated as sources for developing this issue. ;The purpose of this dissertation is to demonstrate that a comprehensive view of fatherhood can be developed by synthesizing the contributions of various philosophers and other literary figures with a serious phenomenological, existential reflection on fatherly experience. ;In the first chapter, the foundation of fatherly attitudes are explored in the formation of a young man, as born into a family. Here the groundwork for a desire to be father is cultivated by man's relation to God and his family. ;The second chapter explores the issue of what attracts a man to a woman. Kierkegaard's speeches using pseudonyms in Stages on Life's Way are analyzed and found to contain a view of woman that makes her attractive to man in being an aesthetically desirable complement of his masculinity. Man is also attracted by the motherly traits of woman. This leads man to reflect on his desire to marry. ;In the third chapter, a fatherly reflection on marriage is developed. The uniquely female closeness to her child in pregnancy and nursing is analyzed to show the great debt that man has to woman, and as a source for a later development of his corresponding duties. ;Later a study of the thoughts of Kant, John Paul II and others is made to discover what leads man to practice in the fatherly virtues of fidelity, guardianship, and providing for and educating his family. ;The dangers to fatherhood in contraception, abortion and homosexuality are evaluated in the light of fatherhood. ;Finally, the fatherly virtues of serving his family are extended to his grandchildren up to the time of his exit from this world