The Crowd is Untruth By Søren Kierkegaard

The main idea of Soren Kierkegaard’s essay is that truth is found in the individual, not in the group. He argues that whenever we look to a “crowd” to decide what is right or true, we are actually moving away from the truth.

Here is a breakdown of the major arguments and concepts in easy-to-understand language:

1. What is “The Crowd”?

For Kierkegaard, a “crowd” isn’t just a group of poor people or a specific social class. It is any group—whether they are millionaires, nobles, or commoners—where the “number” of people is what matters most.

A crowd is an abstraction; it has no hands and no single person to hold responsible for its actions.

2. The Crowd Destroys Personal Responsibility

One of the essay’s biggest arguments is that people use the crowd to hide from being responsible for their own actions.

The Cowardice of Groups: An individual might be too cowardly to do something mean on their own, but if they are part of a crowd, they find a “fake courage” because they feel like no one can pinpoint exactly who started it.

Weakening the Individual: Being in a crowd makes a person “unrepentant” because their personal decision is weakened into just a small fraction of the group’s decision.

3. Truth is Not a Popularity Contest

Kierkegaard believes that ethical and religious truth cannot be decided by a vote.

Worldly vs. Eternal: He admits that for “earthly” things like politics, the crowd’s opinion might have some value. However, when it comes to “eternal truth” or how we should live our lives, the crowd is always “untruth”.

The Danger of Balloting: He argues that even if you have a huge assembly of people, if they try to “ballot” (vote) on what the truth is, they have let untruth in. Truth doesn’t need a majority to be true.

4. The Concept of “That Single Individual”

The author wrote this essay for the “single individual”—the person who seeks God and truth for themselves.

God’s View: He explains that while the world looks at millions of people as a “race” or species, God looks at every single person individually. To God, everyone is a “single individual”

Personal Faith: You cannot be a Christian just by following what is “trendy” in a church community or attending services because everyone else does. You must encounter God personally and do what He calls you to do, even if the rest of the world thinks it is ridiculous.

5. The Role of the Press and Anonymity

Kierkegaard was very critical of the media of his time (the “daily press”).

He argued that anonymity makes the crowd even worse because a person can say things through the press to thousands of people without having to personally stand behind those words. This creates a “Public” that is essentially “No One,” where no one is held accountable for the lies or errors being spread.

6. Following the Example of Christ

He points out that Christ was crucified because He would not join a “crowd” or start a political party. Christ addressed people as individuals and refused to let a crowd help Him.

Kierkegaard believes that anyone who truly wants to serve the truth will always be a “martyr” in some way because they must stand alone against the pressure of the group.