Take a minute to relax. Enjoy the surprising lightness or heaviness of the paper, the sharpness of the ink and the regularity of the characters. There are more than four pages in this pile, overflowing with answers to certain questions, offered on subjects necessarily of a personal nature. All philosophy is personal, but some philosophers may deny this. Here we are discussing philosophers who would not be so stupid. Two proto-existentialists, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, were keen observers of humanity, and yet their conclusions were different enough to seem contradictory. Here we will discuss Nietzsche's “preparatory human being” and Kierkegaard's “knight of faith”. Both are archetypal human beings who exist in accordance with the values ​​of their respective philosopher, and as such, each performs different functions and possesses different qualities. However, both serve the same purpose. Both the Free Spirit and the Knight of Faith are human beings preparing for the implosion of the divine concept in Western society. Nietzsche's dramatis personae “…is different from the actor in this drama” (Science 241). The preparatory human being is one who sees the world as Nietzsche does, and therefore his characterization is Nietzsche, and the people he sees stand out from the rest of society. The preparatory human being is one who is capable of the transition that Nietzsche sees going through the world around him. It is the destruction of belief in God. Nietzsche suggests that this belief has receded and wonders how people will cope with it (Science 181). Nietzsche also mentions in The Gay Science his view that monotheism stifles and directs the individual towards a normative sense of morality...... middle of paper ......ly, that God was in danger, and wrote about human beings surviving the impersonal world. It was in these writers that many existentialists, self-proclaimed or not, saw inspiration for a new type of life. Both the Free Spirit and the Knight of Faith are beings capable of resisting the melting of ice idols and dancing happily in the warm breeze. Works Cited Guignon, Charles B. and Derk Pereboom. Existentialism: basic writings. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2001. Print. Kierkegaard, Søren, Howard V. Hong, Edna H. Hong and Søren Kierkegaard. Philosophical fragments, Johannes Climacus. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1985. Print. Nietzsche, Friedrich and Walter Kaufmann. Gay Science: with a rhyming prelude and an appendix of songs: translated, with commentary by Walter Kaufmann. New York: Random, 1974. Print.