Kierkegaard : exposition and critique PDF
Preview Kierkegaard : exposition and critique
Kierkegaard: Exposition and Critique This page intentionally left blank Kierkegaard Exposition and Critique Daphne Hampson 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries #DaphneHampson2013 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublishedin2013 Impression:3 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable ISBN 978–0–19–967323–0 PrintedinGreatBritainbythe CPIGroup(UK)Ltd,Croydon,CR04YY Preface Kierkegaard has been with me for many years and I have numerous debtsofgratitude.Turningtotheologyinmymid-twentiesIknewIhad tostudyKierkegaard.ProfessorDickNiebuhratHarvardwasgenerous enoughwithhistimeastogivemeanindividualreadingcourse.Soit was that I first tackled the texts of which I write today. From 1974 onwardsIhavemyselftaughtKierkegaardtoinnumerablestudentsat the Universities of Stirling, St Andrews, and most recently in my retirement in Oxford. It is in large part to this experience that the genesisofthebookowes.Fascinatinghemaybe,butKierkegaardisno easyread.IlackedabookthatdevotedchaptersinturntoKierkegaard’s major texts, giving background information, expounding and finally commenting on the text. Eventually one writes it oneself! Further researchandthetaskofcompositionhavethusbeenadeeplysatisfying culminationtowhathasbeenalife-longinvolvementwiththesetexts. Ofauthor-relatedsocieties,theworld-widecommunityofKierke- gaardscholarsmustbeoneofthebestconnected.Ihaveovertheyears benefited from national and international conferences, in the UK, Copenhagen,andtheStates.Iamgratefultohavebeenabletowork intheKierkegaardlibrariesandresearchcentresatStOlafCollegein Northfield,Minnesota,andinCopenhagen.Initialworkonthebook wasundertakenatClareHall,Cambridge,whereasaVisitingScholar Iwaspartofaquiteexceptionalinternationalcommunity.Particular thanks are due to Simon Podmore, who, originally studying his KierkegaardwithmeandnowafineKierkegaardscholar,hashelped withquestionsrelatingtoreferencingandKierkegaardresearchweb- sites: itis goodwhen things comefull circle.Gillian NorthcottLiles and Kathie Gill have been a meticulous copy editors. Finally, a big thank you to staff at Oxford University Press, particularly to Tom Perridge, Lizzie Robottom and Jenny Lunsford; I have found it the bestpresstoworkwiththatIhaveyetencountered. Awordontranslations.Giventhattheyhavebecomestandard,Ihave by default given references to the series of translations Kierkegaard’s WritingsbyHowardandEdnaHongandinonecaseReidarThomte. vi j preface However,theearliertranslationsofDavidSwensonandWalterLowrie stillringthroughmyearswithwhatstrikesmeastheirgreatersubtlety and poetic quality suited to 19th-century texts, and not infrequently greaterclarity.Onoccasion,particularlyinthefinalchapter,Ihavein preference given quotations from these texts. Unfortunately I do not have Danish. Thanks are due to Arne Grøn and George Pattison for elucidationastotheconnotationsofvariouswords.Notinfrequentlyif givingaDanishwordIhavealsogiventheequivalentGermanthinking this useful to the many more readers who will know that language. UnlessotherwisestatedtranslationsfromGermanaremyown. Awordtooonthepuzzlingquestionoftheuseofgenderedversus gender-inclusive language. I choose to continue to use gendered language when discussing texts from a former age; this alone can reflectthesensibilitiesofthatworld,inwhichmalewasaxiomatically normative and employed without question for generic humanity. When speaking of persons today I of course use gender-inclusive language. Idonotknowwhetheritispermittedinaprefacetoacknowledgea debt of gratitude to the author of whom one writes? My life would havebeensubtlydifferenthadInotencounteredKierkegaard.Hehas beenasourceofdelightandedificationwithhisinsightsandperspi- cacity. Iam moved byhis loveof God, hissensitivity to others, and hissparklingwit.Butfurthermorehesetbeforemetheimplications of Christian claims and, not having been brought up in orthodox Christian belief (though awareness of God), enabled me to under- standwithgreaterclaritywhyIshouldnotwishtobeChristian.He has thus been a significant dialogue partner. I fundamentally agree with him as to the importance of truth and integrity: that theology cannot simply be an academic discipline but that the theologian– philosophermustbeexistentiallyengagedasaperson.Thetimegap thatseparatesusculturallyissignificant,yethealsolivesinthesame universeasdoI,readingmanyofthesametexts—anditisthatthat makesthedialoguewithhimsoworthwhile.Wouldthathecouldbut knowthathewasindeeddiscovered(asindarkermomentshefeared he might not be) by future generations. I can only hope that in my workhewouldfindhisthoughtfaithfullyportrayed. Acknowledgements The following are acknowledged with thanks: Princeton University Press, for permission to cite quotations from Howard V. Hong & EdnaH.Hong,edsandtrans.TheCollectedWritingsofSørenKierke- gaard,vol.1–(series);IndianaUniversityPress,forpermissiontocite quotations from Howard V. Hong & Edna H. Hong, eds and trans. Søren Kierkegaard’s Journals and Papers, vols 1–6; the Royal Library, Copenhagen, Department of Maps, Prints, and Photographs for permissiontousethecoverillustrations. This page intentionally left blank Contents ListofAbbreviations x TimeChart xiii Introduction:WhyReadKierkegaard? 1 1 Kierkegaard’sIntellectualContext 11 2 FearandTrembling 31 3 PhilosophicalFragments 60 4 TheConceptAngst 101 5 ConcludingUnscientificPostscriptto PhilosophicalFragments 140 6 Love’sDeeds 179 7 TheSicknessUntoDeath 221 8 PracticeinChristianity 255 9 ThePointofViewForKierkegaard’sWorkasanAuthor 297 FurtherReading 321 IndexofPersons 325 IndexofSubjects 329
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