Kierkegaard on the Philosophy of History PDF
Preview Kierkegaard on the Philosophy of History
K ierkegaard on the Philosophy of History K ierkegaard on the Philosophy of History G eorgios Patios PhD in Philosophy, University of Liverpool © Georgios Patios 2014 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-38327-3 A ll rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. N o portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. A ny person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. T he author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. F irst published 2014 by P ALGRAVE MACMILLAN P algrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. P algrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. P algrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. P algrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries ISBN 978-1-349-48046-3 ISBN 978-1-137-38328-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137383280 T his book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. T o my wife Konstantina and my son Konstantinos, always C ontents P reface i x A cknowledgements x L ist of Abbreviations x i I ntroduction 1 1 Hegel’s Philosophy of History 6 Introduction 6 The Hegelian enigma 8 The varieties of historical writing 1 1 Reason in history 1 8 Conclusion 2 5 2 Kierkegaard’s Concept of History 2 7 Introduction 2 7 The ‘Interlude’ 2 8 The context to the ‘Interlude’ 4 3 Doubt, belief, will, and freedom in history 4 7 Epilogue 4 9 3 The Structure of the Kierkegaardian ‘Self’ 5 1 Introduction 5 1 Freedom and necessity, temporality and eternity 5 3 The human self 5 6 Eternity, God and despair 5 8 Anxiety 6 0 Possibility as anxiety 6 4 Anxiety as the result of a synthesis 6 4 Eternity and moment 6 7 Despair 7 1 Existential freedom 7 4 Despair and faith 7 4 Human/Political self 7 6 Conclusion 7 9 4 H egel’s Philosophy of History and Kierkegaard’s Concept of History: A Synthesis Instead of a Confrontation 8 0 Introduction 8 0 Hegelian claims on history 8 1 vii viii Contents Reason 8 1 Knowledge of the past 8 2 Order and meaning in history 8 2 God’s providence 8 3 Incarnation and history 8 4 Hegelian freedom and necessity 8 6 Individuals in history 8 6 Conclusion 8 7 Kierkegaardian claims 8 7 Kierkegaardian concept of history 8 8 Kierkegaard and the Incarnation 8 9 Freedom as opposite to logical necessity 9 1 Human consciousness and history 9 2 Necessity in (past) history 9 3 Doubt 9 4 Belief 9 5 The historical 9 5 Historical knowledge 9 6 My arguments 9 7 Conclusion 1 06 Hegel and Kierkegaard: a possible synthesis 1 06 Kierkegaard’s relations to Hegel re-reconsidered 1 14 Niels Thulstrup 1 14 Jon Stewart 1 16 Jean-Paul Sartre 1 20 Mark C. Taylor 1 21 James Bogen 1 23 Peter J. Mehl 1 23 Merold Westphal 1 24 Unhappy consciousness 1 25 Epilogue 1 26 5 Heidegger’s Response to the Problem of History 1 28 Introduction 1 28 Part I 1 29 Part II 1 40 Part III 1 46 C onclusion 1 47 N otes 1 51 B ibliography 1 78 I ndex 1 85 P reface K ierkegaard is well known as a witty writer mainly occupied with Christianity. In what follows, however, Kierkegaard is depicted as a philosopher who can provide us with some new and authentic ideas about the nature of history. Kierkegaard’s approach to the problem of history is compared with Hegel’s philosophy of history and Heidegger’s view of history. H egel’s philosophy of history, as we examine a little later in our anal- ysis, remains a constant point of reference for Kierkegaard’s thought on history, and therefore, we need to understand his views on history if we aspire to really grasp Kierkegaard’s approach. H eidegger, on the other hand, appears to be a thinker who can replace Kierkegaard’s ‘existential’ approach to the nature of history, and thus, we need to closely examine Heidegger’s views on history to safely judge about the value of Kierkegaard’s contribution to the philosophy of history. H egel’s philosophy of history is examined and analysed first, and the conclusion is that we can clearly detect two main Hegelian assertions regarding history: first, that reason is the main historical agent and, second, that human beings can fully know their past history. K ierkegaard’s arguments follow a totally different approach from that of Hegel’s. Kierkegaard argues that we cannot fully know our past history and that the crucial element in history is to decide about our future history instead of simply trying to understand our past history. It is also argued that Kierkegaard constructs human self in such a way that human beings must simultaneously create themselves and history by making decisions regarding their present and their future. I t is further argued that neither Hegel nor Kierkegaard can, on their own, provide us with a total and full picture of the nature of history because Hegel, on the one hand, focuses on the macroscopic view of history and Kierkegaard, on the other, on the microscopic view (that is, from the point of view of the individual). This is why a possible synthesis of both views is suggested as a better way to truly understand history. H eidegger’s view of history is examined as a possible ‘existential’ alter- native approach to history from that of Kierkegaard’s. The conclusion is that Heidegger cannot really offer us any help because he is either borrowing his main concepts from Kierkegaard or he is too vague. ix A cknowledgements M any people gave me help, in many different ways, during the writing of this book. I thank them all. I wish to especially thank Clare Carlisle, Stephen Clark, and Gillian Howie for their help during the first stages of the writing; and Simon Hailwood and Simon Podmore for their sugges- tions during the last stages. I want to express my gratitude to Daniel Whistler who was always there to help me with his advice, his sugges- tions, and his encouragement. I need, finally, to thank my friend Manos Antypas for his steady and quiet support during the last five years. x L ist of Abbreviations B T B eing and Time C A T he Concept of Anxiety C T T he Concept of Time C UP C oncluding Unscientifi c Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments I PH I ntroduction to the Lectures on the Philosophy of World History J C J ohannes Climacus P F P hilosophical Fragments P H T he Philosophy of History P R P hilosophy of Right P S P henomenology of Spirit S UD T he Sickness Unto Death xi
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