Kierkegaard’s Influence on the Social Sciences

356 Pages·2011·2.104 MB·English

by  Jon Stewart (ed.)

KierKegaard’s influence on the
social sciences
Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources
Volume 13
Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources
is a publication of the søren Kierkegaard research centre
General Editor
Jon stewart
Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre,
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Editorial Board
finn gredal Jensen
Katalin nun
peter ŠaJda
Advisory Board
lee c. barrett
maría J. binetti
istvÁn czaKÓ
heiKo schulz
curtis l. thompson
Kierkegaard’s Influence on the
social sciences
Edited by
Jon stewart
First published2011 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprintof the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 2011 Jon stewart
Jon stewart has asserted his right under the copyright, designs and patents act, 1988, to be
identified as the editor of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage orretrieval s ystem,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Kierkegaard’s influence on the social sciences.
volume 13. – (Kierkegaard research)
1. Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813–1855--Influence.
2. Kierkegaard, søren, 1813–1855--Knowledge--søcial
sciences. 3. social sciences – history.
i. series ii. stewart, Jon (Jon bartley)
198.9-dc22

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kierkegaard’s influence on the social sciences / [edited by] Jon Stewart.
p. cm. — (Kierkegaard research ; v. 13)
includes indexes.
isbn 978-1-4094-3490-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. social
sciences—research. 2. social sciences—philosophy, 3. Kierkegaard, søren,
1813-1855. i. stewart, Jon (Jon bartley)
h62.K474 2011
300.92—dc23
2011026577
ISBN 9781409434900 (hbk)
cover design by Katalin nun
contents
List of Contributors vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xiii
List of Abbreviations xv
Jean baudrillard:
the seduction of Jean baudrillard
Stuart Kendall 1
ernest becker:
a Kierkegaardian theorist of death and human nature
Rick Anthony Furtak 17
ludwig binswanger:
Kierkegaard’s Influence on Binswanger’s Work
Elisabetta Basso 29
mircea eliade:
on religion, cosmos, and agony
Leo Stan 55
erik erikson:
artist of moral development
Edward F. Mooney 81
erich fromm:
the integrity of the self and the practice of love
John Lippitt 95
anthony giddens:
Kierkegaard and the risk of existence
Søren Landkildehus 121
vi Kierkegaard’s Influence on the Social Sciences
rené girard:
from mimetic desire to anonymous masses
Diego Giordano 137
carl gustav Jung:
a missed connection
Anthony Rudd 151
Julia Kristeva:
tales of horror and love
Edward F. Mooney 177
Jacques lacan:
Kierkegaard as a freudian Questioner of the soul avant la lettre
J.D. Mininger 195
rollo may:
existential psychology
Poul Houe 217
carl r. rogers:
“to be that self which one truly is”
Simon D. Podmore 239
max weber:
weber’s existential choice
Dustin Feddon 259
irvin Yalom:
the “throw-ins” of psychotherapy
Almut Furchert 273
Slavoj Žižek:
mirroring the absent god
Leo Stan 297
Index of Persons 323
Index of Subjects 331
list of contributors
Elisabetta Basso, centre d’archives de philosophie, d’histoire et d’Édition des
sciences, urs 3308, centre international de recherches en philosophie, lettres,
Savoirs (Centre national de la recherche scientifique—École normale supérieure),
paris, france.
Dustin Feddon, m05 dodd hall, department of religion, florida state university,
tallahassee, fl 32306-1520, usa.
Almut Furchert, hong Kierkegaard library, st. olaf college, 1510 st. olaf avenue
Northfield, MN 55057, USA.
Rick Anthony Furtak, department of philosophy, colorado college, 14 e. cache
la poudre, colorado springs, co 80903, usa.
Diego Giordano, c/o Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre at the University of
copenhagen, farvergade 27d, 1463 copenhagen K, denmark.
Poul Houe, department of german, scandinavian and dutch, university of
minnesota, 205 folwell hall, 9 pleasant street s.e., minneapolis, mn 55455-0124,
usa.
Stuart Kendall, visual and critical studies, california college of the arts, 5212
broadway, oakland, ca 94618-1426, usa.
Søren Landkildehus, hong Kierkegaard library, st. olaf college, 1510 st. olaf
Avenue Northfield, MN 55057, USA.
John Lippitt, school of humanities, university of hertfordshire de havilland
Campus, Hatfield, Herts AL10 9AB, UK.
J.D. Mininger, faculty of political science and diplomacy, vytautas magnus
university, K. donelaicio g. 58, 44248 Kaunas, lithuania.
Edward F. Mooney, department of religion, syracuse university, syracuse, nY
13244, usa.
Simon D. Podmore, trinity college, broadstreet, oxford, oX1 3bh, uK.
viii Kierkegaard’s Influence on the Social Sciences
Anthony Rudd, department of philosophy, st. olaf college, 1520 st. olaf avenue,
Northfield, MN 55057, USA.
Leo Stan, centre for the study of theory and criticism, university of western
ontario, somerville house, rm. 2345a, london, ontario n6a 3K7, canada.
preface
Kierkegaard has long been known as a philosopher and theologian, but his
contributions to psychology, anthropology, and sociology have also made an important
impact on these fields. In many of the works of his complex authorship, Kierkegaard
presents his intriguing and unique vision of the nature and mental life of human
beings individually and collectively. despite this, it must be said that in Kierkegaard
studies, his influence on the social sciences generally remains a somewhat neglected
field, especially in comparison to the vast wealth of philosophical or theological
research. there are to date only a few full-length monographs dedicated to this
dimension of his thought, and these have tended to focus primarily on the field of
philosophical psychology.1
some scholars are surprised to hear that there has actually been so little written
about this subject since one frequently runs across titles that would seem to indicate
a study of Kierkegaard’s psychology. the explanation of this is a deceptive linguistic
ambiguity. by the expression “Kierkegaard’s psychology,” one can mean, as we
do here in this volume, Kierkegaard’s contributions to the field of psychology via
his psychological analyses as they appear in his works. but this same expression
can also be taken to mean Kierkegaard’s own psychological disposition. indeed,
many scholars, perhaps inspired by george brandes’ (1842–1927) famous book on
Kierkegaard,2 have treated him not as psychologist or a source of inspiration for
psychological insight but rather, as it were, as a case study.3 his life and complex
1 Kresten nordentoft, Kierkegaards psykologi, copenhagen: gad 1972 (in english as
Kierkegaard’s Psychology, trans. by bruce h. Kirmmse, pittsburgh: duquesne university
press 1978). vincent a. mccarthy, The Phenomenology of Moods in Kierkegaard, the
hague: martinus nijhoff 1978. wim scholtens, Alle gekheid op een stokje. Kierkegaard
als psycholoog, baarn: ten have 1979. harvie ferguson, Melancholy and the Critique of
Modernity: Søren Kierkegaard’s Religious Psychology, london and new York: routledge
1995. Karl verstrynge, De Hysterie Van De Geest: Melancholie en zwaarmoedigheid in
het pseudonieme oeuvre van Kierkegaard, leuven: peeters 2003. michael theunissen, Der
Begriff Verzweiflung. Korrekturen an Kierkegaard, frankfurt am main: suhrkamp 1993 (in
english as Kierkegaard’s Concept of Despair, trans. by barbara harshav and helmut illbruck,
princeton university press 2005).
2 georg brandes, Søren Kierkegaard. En kritisk Fremstilling i Grundrids, copenhagen:
gyldendal 1877.
3 see, for example, august vetter, Frömmigkeit als Leidenschaft. Eine Deutung
Kierkegaards, leipzig: insel 1928. friedrich c. fischer, Die Nullpunkt-Existenz. Dargestellt
an der Lebensform Sören Kierkegaards, munich: beck 1933. hjalmar helweg, Søren
Kierkegaard—en psykiatrisk-psykologisk studie, copenhagen: h. hagerups forlag 1933.
John björkheim, Søren Kierkegaard i psykologisk betydning, uppsala: nyblooms forlag