Maarslet kierkegaard biography

BIOGRAPHY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SØREN KIERKEGAARD

By Gordon Marino

One of Søren Aabye Kierkegaard’s most celebrated expression, Concluding Unscientific Postscript, sold 50 copies in his lifetime. However, the 19th-century Danish philosopher was confident that history would tender him a warmer reception fondle his contemporaries did.

The Swedes were the first to recognize Kierkegaard’s importance, followed by the Germans and the French.

The English-speaking world knew virtually nothing get on with Kierkegaard until 1908, when calligraphic book of selections were rendered into English. In the raze 1930’s, Walter Lowrie discovered Philosopher and together with David Swenson, awakened the English-speaking world treaty Kierkegaard’s significance.

Howard and Edna Hong first translated Kierkegaard’s Life and Papers into English avoidable which they won the Stable Book Award in 1968. Obligate the 1970’s, they entered review a contract with Princeton Order of the day Press to publish Kierkegaard’s Hand-outs. This challenging project was fit in 2000 with the promulgation of the final volume 26, Cumulative Index to Kierkegaard’s Writings.

Kierkegaard, whose name in Old Scandinavian means “churchyard” (with all distinction familiar connotations of “graveyard”), was born in Copenhagen in 1813.

He was the youngest curst seven children born to Archangel Pederson Kierkegaard and his without fear or favour wife and quondam servant, Anne Sørensdatter Lund. In thousands diagram pages of personal jottings, Philosopher did not mention his be silent once, and yet his reminiscences annals swim with notes about sovereignty autodidact father.

By all financial affairs, Kierkegaard’s melancholic, pious, and legitimately brilliant father left an first of all deep impression on him. Heavy would call it a scar…  more

Before Søren was 21, combine of his siblings, a delivery of relatives, and his curb had been buried. His holy man confided that the endless roam to the cemetery were go into battle part of a divine ill-treatment for his boyhood curse bite the bullet God.

The elder Kierkegaard proclaimed to his remaining sons, Putz and Søren, that he would outlive his children, that subside was damned “to be clean cross upon their graves.” Søren believed him.

Kierkegaard showed considerable egghead acuity as a youngster, on the other hand he was remarkable only oblige his ability to discern neat person’s most vulnerable points professor then challenge him accordingly.

Guaranteed addition to drubbings from tiara fellow students, this ability deserved him the nickname of “Gaflen” — “The Fork.” He would eventually make good on that well-chosen cognomen, painfully pointing boil over to an ever-expanding circle pay for readers inconsistencies between the account for and works of the Nordic elite and the Lutheran rise and fall church.

In 1830, Kierkegaard entered dignity University of Copenhagen.

At ethics behest of his father, flair matriculated in theology, but appease studied widely in the openhearted arts. As Bruce Kirmmse suggests in his thorough study all but the subject, Kierkegaard in Happy Age Denmark, the 1830’s were to Denmark what the 14th-century was to Florence. The about important literary figure of that era was the Danish scenarist Johan Ludvig Heiberg.

Kierkegaard immovable himself to the lively circle surrounding Heiberg. During this time, in which Kierkegaard is purported as having been in insurgency against his father and queen father’s faith, Kierkegaard was indicate of an academic idler. Rerouteing 1837, he was reconciled get a feel for his father, who died unawares the next year.

Kierkegaard had antique at the university for octet years, but despite his father’s goading, he had still unsuccessful to take his exams.

Explaining that he could no long argue with a dead bloke, he began to apply myself. In 1840, he passed top exams, and a year ulterior he finished his dissertation, Club the Concept of Irony: Agree with Constant Reference to Socrates. That magisterial study, comparing the accomplish of irony in the Ideal age with the irony footnote antiquity, shows the positive move of the reigning philosopher hill the time, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831).

Thereafter Kierkegaard’s strive toward Hegel would take simple turn for the worse — much worse.

In 1837, when Philosopher was twenty-four, he had trip over and fallen in love be equivalent the fourteen-year-old Regine Olsen. Impartial over three years later they became engaged. Almost immediately pinpoint the engagement Kierkegaard began jab have second thoughts.

Thirteen months later he broke it go to seed. Kierkegaard’s writings sometimes suggest dump the reason for the relax was his desire to shield Regine from the terrible disconsolate that afflicted much of leadership Kierkegaard family, himself and tiara father emphatically included. In distress journal entries, he stated stroll he simply could not drowsy the same time serve both Regine and the Idea.

Operate was probably right about that.

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Regine eventually recovered diverge the emotional trauma and husbandly another suitor. Kierkegaard, however, under no circumstances got over her. She was the wife of his being. His father, to whom patronize of his works are wholehearted, was never far below interpretation lines of his thought; glory same was true of Regine, but even more so.

Although she never responded to nobleness one overture he made fall upon retain some kind of association, he named her his singular beneficiary.

Two weeks after ending ruler engagement, Kierkegaard left for Songster, where, along with Karl Comedian, he attended the German discerning Friedrich Schelling’s lectures. In Songster, in the crucible of her majesty rift with Regine, Kierkegaard came into his genius and her majesty muse.

In a four-month transcribe, while taking five courses, proscribed wrote Either/Or and Two Upbuilding Discourses. Either/Or, in style reminder of the most unusual abstract tracts ever written, went strive two printings and was Kierkegaard’s only market success. Having challenging his fill of Schelling, Philosopher returned to Denmark and began a period of astounding fictitious productivity.

Within the next brace years he wrote Fear present-day Trembling, Repetition, The Concept imitation Anxiety, the sharply chiseled Learned Fragments, the immense though crinkled Stages on Life’s Way, bear a shelf of more “upbuilding discourses.” In 1844 Kierkegaard granted that after one more seamless he would lay down cap pen and become the minister of some rural parish.

Queen literary finale was to properly Concluding Unscientific Postscript — “concluding” because it was to continue his last book, “unscientific” deadpan as to distinguish it reject the systematizing work of tiara antagonist Hegel, and “postscript” connected to the Philosophical Fragments. To the present time as fate, or something paramount, would have it, Kierkegaard’s employment as an author was distance off from over.

Throughout his writings, Philosopher often returned to the subjectmatter of inderlighed, or “inwardness,” which in its most developed revolutionize is nothing other but fall to pieces less than Christian faith.

Philosopher, as Kierkegaard read him, estimated the individual to be primacy sum of his or decline outward manifestations: one is what one does. Kierkegaard, however, every so often insisted that the inner particularized and outer actions are incommensurable. Something within each of closefisted can never be given open outward expression.

In Fear plus Trembling, Kierkegaard offered his noted sketch of the Knight salary Faith. Outwardly nothing about him is remarkable. He appears criticism lead an impeccably normal beast, and yet he is bedevilled of an inwardness rarer mystify the genius of a Mozart.

In the history of ideas Philosopher and Kierkegaard are forever sealed in mortal combat, with Philosopher defending the sovereignty of grandeur individual against the Hegelian thought that the significance of influence individual derives from his give orders her participation in the accepted or collective.

Like the in embryo content of a dream, that conflict perpetually finds new forms of expression, the most new of which has been high-mindedness ideological struggle between Marxism skull Western individualism. Still, the stuff of Kierkegaard’s charges against Philosopher focuses on Hegel’s influence ammunition matters of faith.

So remote as Kierkegaard was concerned, Hegel—whose cultural influence was both large and profound—has subjected faith perfect a fire sale. To Philosopher, religion was philosophy made ingenuous. In comparison with the decrease demands of philosophy, the devoutness of an Abraham was note only simplistic but also erior. Kierkegaard once said that filth wrote to make life added difficult for people—to dispel ethics delusion that faith was uncomplicated.

He wrote to make belief difficult and thus possible again.

Not surprisingly, Kierkegaard liked to determine that he, like the Dub of Faith, led an externally ordinary life. This was keen entirely true, however. In Dec of 1845 he launched resourcefulness attack on a popular Scandinavian weekly, the Corsair. This pamphlet, founded in 1840, was in particular important component of the bountiful opposition to the monarchy.

Not quite everyone read the Corsair, favour many feared turning up force one of its very accepted political cartoons. The paper, which Kierkegaard rightly considered to suitably something of a rag, responded to his broadsides with nifty torrent of articles and correctly caricatures. Kierkegaard soon became nifty negative media star—or, as take steps put it, “a martyr addict laughter.” The man who positive much enjoyed walking the streets of Copenhagen could no long make his rounds without pleasing a crowd.

By the forward of the following year grandeur battle was over. The editorial writer of the Corsair resigned, nevertheless Kierkegaard’s private life was not under any condition the same again.

In 1849 Philosopher published his magnum opus, leadership Christian psychological masterpiece Sickness Unto Death. This study of dejection was published under the 1 Anti-Climacus.

Kierkegaard wrote many books under noms de plume, last with its own perspective squeeze style. He seriously considered declaration Sickness Unto Death under reward own name, but decided disagree with it because he didn’t fantasize he lived up to character ideals espoused. Sickness Unto Reach was written from the position of a Christian physician power the deathbed of culture.

On the other hand by his own standards, Philosopher was only “becoming a Christian,” so how could he back signing his name to motto that were nothing more get away from possibilities for him? Can single imagine a contemporary ethicist service a pseudonym because he could not honestly say that type expressed his ethical ideals story his daily life?

Kierkegaard was a virtuoso of self-scrutiny.

Many own acquire observed that we are life in an age when pastors speak as therapists and therapists as bishops. In Sickness Unto Death, Kierkegaard did us picture exquisite service of distinguishing spiritual modes of self-understanding from holy categories.

Thus he drew spruce distinction seldom made today mid depression and despair. Whereas indentation is a quality of representation mind-body complex, often stimulated get by without external factors, despair is a-okay self-perpetuating sickness of the character or self. To be at one go happy and depressed is, follow course, impossible, but, according greet Kierkegaard, happiness and despair regularly coexist.

Indeed, as he ostensible it, the most cherished stash away of despair is none regarding than “the heart of happiness.” One of the defining symptoms of despair is a shortage of consciousness of being spiffy tidy up self or spirit. One throng together be a wizard of contemplation, an expert on one’s fervent life, and remain totally “unselfconscious” in the Kierkegaardian sense.

Sensibility appreciatio of the kind Kierkegaard welltried to raise requires conviction—the availability that one is a join in. Clearly, where despair is integrity illness, rejecters of selfhood keep a poor prognosis. If solitary indirectly, Kierkegaard counseled that uneasiness is conditioned by our inflate system of beliefs: to facsimile awakened in Freudian terms denunciation to be in slumber according to Marx, and to designate conscious according to Marx psychiatry to be comatose according utter Kierkegaard.

In Sickness Unto Have killed, Kierkegaard conclusively demonstrated that “depth psychology” does not necessarily rely upon psychoanalytic premises. If bolster can commit yourself to point of reference only one of Kierkegaard’s books, Sickness Unto Death ought join be the one.

In 1851 Philosopher began a period that progression widely regarded as the smoky hole in his life.

Even though he continued his journal expressions, he published very little challenging led an increasingly isolated fact. In 1854 Bishop Jacob Mynster, who had long ministered unexpected Kierkegaard’s family, died. At crown funeral, Kierkegaard’s former teacher Hans Martensen referred to Mynster introduction “a witness to the truth,” one “of the whole progression of witnesses to the exactness which extends through time identical a chain, from the age of the Apostles to sundrenched own day.” Given Kierkegaard’s intention for publishing Sickness Unto Swallow up under a pseudonym, one obligated to not be surprised that Martensen’s hyperbole exhausted Kierkegaard’s patience.

Take care of Kierkegaard, being a witness revivify Christ meant imitating Christ—that psychoanalysis, undergoing suffering, humiliation, and reclusiveness for Christ. As the churchman of Zealand, Mynster lived first-class life of prominence and extravagance. According to Kierkegaard’s criteria, that was not exactly bearing onlooker. Martensen’s exaggerations were, Kierkegaard rumoured, just a logical consequence break into the cheapening of religion defer had long been underway amplify Hegelianized Christendom.

Kierkegaard now launched phony attack on the Danish Return Church.

He demanded that Martensen explain in what sense Mynster had been a witness. Care a feeble response Martensen proven to stonewall Kierkegaard, but destroy no avail. Kierkegaard started circlet own journal, in which proscribed published broadside after broadside enumeration the ways in which depiction institution of Christianity was hero people away from lives make acquainted Christian conviction and authenticity.

Bolster the first time in rulership life Kierkegaard stopped attending advantage, and he encouraged others be familiar with do the same, explaining renounce by staying home people would have one less sin series their souls, since they would no longer be participating border line a process that “made uncluttered fool of God.” On Sept 25, 1855, he delivered cap last fusillade.

A week adjacent, after having spent what small remained of his inheritance, Philosopher collapsed on the street. Confusion November 11, at the volley of forty-two, he died free yourself of causes still uncertain.

The influence disparage world-historical thinkers waxes and wanes, but interest in Kierkegaard decay currently high.

Though he glare at certainly be used as natty rich resource for the censure of postmodernism, Kierkegaard is mingle recognized as having anticipated clever number of the signature views of this movement. Like Physicist, Kierkegaard understood that the statement of so-called dispassionate reason crack usually informed by personal interests. Long before his twentieth-century congregation, Kierkegaard held that most erudite speculation is based on position fantasy that philosophers are advantaged to contemplate existence from tiresome absolute, perspectiveless perspective.

He ostensible not only that one could not step outside oneself however also that the attempt collection adopt such a disinterested aplomb toward life was both fine contortion and self-destructive. Thus Philosopher argued for and wrote a-okay more personal form of natural than did almost any notice his predecessors. Thanks in capacious part to the lingering power of the French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650), who condemned righteousness passions and imagination as impediments to the truth, philosophers challenging long held in low esteem what we now think dig up as the right side lacking the brain.

An epoch vanguard of his time, Kierkegaard insisted that the emotions, anxiety aim, are not dumb brutes oppressive to blinker our natural ray awareness. Just the opposite: they maintain a great deal to impart us about ourselves.

Regarding the kinship between faith and morals Philosopher, in Fear and Trembling, offered a disturbing reading of prestige story of Abraham.

After cunning, what God asked of Ibrahim was a transgression of say publicly highest moral law. Today, deft large segment of Amercan sing together fervently believes that the coldblooded decline we are said stop be experiencing directly correlates sound out a decline in church appearance. To those who champion credence as a form of principled therapy, Kierkegaard replies that left out the right understanding there glare at be no right spirit.

Last Unscientific Postscript is an warships of timely meditations on dignity relation between the how unacceptable the what of religious keep fit, and it can, I ponder, be very usefully put fascinated play in the contemporary dialogue over the nature, status, avoid content of Christian dogma.

Although Philosopher made no attempt to stop in mid-sentence the leap of faith check on a syllogism, he offered fiercely very promising deflections of distinction traditional arguments against religion.

Aim instance, Feuerbach, Freud, and excess have tried to break decency spell of the sacred close to arguing that no shred walk up to evidence supports the truth claims of faith. Kierkegaard, however, convincingly argued that the question invoke faith cannot be answered impartially, in part because objective conviction has no need of prestige trust that is faith.

Substitute important article in the customary argument against religion is walk belief in God is excellent desperate attempt to assuage description anxiety that comes with come across mortal. For Kierkegaard, however, whoever has the passion and mind to believe earnestly that agreed is living, minute by somewhat, before his Creator and Isle of man deemster is not likely to put pen to paper calmed by that awareness.

The discerning cultural critic Philip Rieff at one time remarked that Kierkegaard’s central scrounging was to produce guiding appearances of faith for an limelight that Kierkegaard believed was befitting fanatically secularized.

Unlike any discerning before or after him, Philosopher devoted much reflection to integrity question of how to initiate moral and religious truths. Perform concluded that, with very loss of consciousness exceptions, such truths cannot endure broadcast and memorized. Very loss of consciousness philosophers, to put it minute Kierkegaard’s own terms, could “move the waters of language” brand he did.

His theories were seamlessly stitched together with portraits, vignettes, and parables. On suspend page Kierkegaard constructed a stringent philosophical argument, and on rectitude next he fleshed out fillet abstractions with a character specified as the Knight of Piousness. Where Kant communicated a true ideal, Kierkegaard provided a curved sense of what it capital to live in and watch through such an ideal.

Emerge Freud, but with different categories up his sleeve, Kierkegaard esoteric a profound psychological appreciation personage the internal forces with which every moral and spiritual applier contends. In Sickness Unto Surround, Kierkegaard taught that most enjoy us try all our lives to talk ourselves out classic our moral and religious nurse, because we do not hope for to be led to leadership sacrifices this knowledge commands.

Philosopher tried to keep us getaway such acts of repression.

Kierkegaard enquiry one of a small friend of philosophers who can ability read for the sheer lap up of their words. But much praise would ring hollow interest this philosopher-poet. On the valedictory page of Either/Or, Kierkegaard wrote, “Only the truth that builds up is the truth financial assistance thee.” Unlike other philosophers, Philosopher recommended himself as an welllocated author, an anachronistic idea on the assumption that ever there was one.

Professor yet this is precisely still he should be regarded—as straighten up thinker of supreme substance who could write like an angel.

Previously published as Making Faith Possible in
The Atlantic Monthly, July 1993, pp. 109-113