May 05

Søren Kierkegaard was born on May 5, 1813, in Copenhagen, Denmark. His writings challenged the dominant Hegelian philosophy by emphasizing individual choice, subjective truth, and personal responsibility. In works such as Either/Or, Fear and Trembling, and The Sickness unto Death, he explored themes of faith, despair, and the self. Kierkegaard critiqued the Danish Lutheran Church for promoting a complacent faith and argued that genuine belief requires passion and risk. Despite financial difficulties and ill health, he produced a prolific body of journals, essays, and pseudonymous works. His ideas had limited impact during his lifetime but profoundly influenced 20th-century thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger. Kierkegaard's legacy endures in philosophy, theology, and literature as a pioneer of existential thought.

Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in Trier, Prussia. He studied law and philosophy before moving into journalism and radical political activism in Paris and Brussels. In 1848, he co-wrote The Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels, outlining a theory of class struggle and workers' emancipation. His seminal work, Das Kapital, offered a critical analysis of capitalism's economic structures, labor relations, and crises. Marx's theories on historical materialism and surplus value laid the foundation for modern socialist and communist movements. Although his ideas were often censored and controversial, they inspired labor activism and revolutions across the globe. Marx spent his later years in London, continuing to write, correspond, and organize until his death in 1883. His intellectual legacy remains influential in economics, political science, and cultural studies.