Kierkegaard's The Sickness Unto Death: A Critical Guide

280 Pages·2022·2.567 MB·English

by  Jeffrey Hanson, Sharon Krishek

KIERKEGAARD’S THE SICKNESS UNTO DEATH
The Sickness unto Death () is commonly regarded as one of
Kierkegaard’s most important works – but also as one of his most
difficult texts to understand. It is a meditation on Christian existen-
tialistthemesincludingsin,despair,religiousfaithanditsredemptive
power,andtherelationanddifferencebetweenphysicalandspiritual
death. This volume of new essays guides readers through the philo-
sophicalandtheologicalsignificanceofthework,whileclarifyingthe
complicated ideas that Kierkegaard develops. Some of the essays
focus closely on particular themes, others attempt to elucidate the
text as a whole, and yet others examine it in relation to other
philosophical views. Bringing together these diverse approaches, the
volumeoffersacomprehensiveunderstandingofthispivotalwork.It
will be of interest to those studying Kierkegaard as well as existen-
tialism, religious philosophy, and moralpsychology.
  isSenior Philosopher intheHuman Flourishing
Program atHarvard University. HeistheauthorofKierkegaardand
the Life of Faith: The Aesthetic, the Ethical, and the Religious in Fear
and Trembling () and the editor of Kierkegaard as
Phenomenologist:An Experiment().
  is Lecturer in Philosophy at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem. She is the author of Kierkegaard on Faith
and Love (Cambridge, ), Kierkegaard’s Philosophy of Love (in
Hebrew, ) and Lovers in Essence: A Kierkegaardian Defense of
Romantic Love().
(cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17)
  
Titles published in this series:
Nietzsche’sThusSpokeZarathustra
- . 
Aristotle’sOntheSoul
   . 
Schopenhauer’sWorldasWillandRepresentation
    
Kant’sProlegomena
 
Hegel’sEncyclopediaofthePhilosophicalSciences
    
Maimonides’GuideofthePerplexed
    
Fichte’sSystemofEthics
    
Hume’sAnEnquiryConcerningthePrinciplesofMorals
     
Hobbes’sOntheCitizen
     
Hegel’sPhilosophyofSpirit
  . 
Kant’sLecturesonMetaphysics
   . 
Spinoza’sPoliticalTreatise
 .  
Aquinas’sSummaTheologiae
 
Aristotle’sGenerationofAnimals
    
Hegel’sElementsofthePhilosophyofRight
  
Kant’sCritiqueofPureReason
  . ’
Spinoza’sEthics
   . 
Plato’sSymposium
  e´  
Fichte’sFoundationsofNaturalRight
 
Aquinas’sDisputedQuestionsonEvil
 . . 
Aristotle’sPolitics
     
Aristotle’sPhysics
  
(cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17)
Kant’sLecturesonEthics
   
Kierkegaard’sFearandTrembling
 
Kant’sLecturesonAnthropology
  
Kant’sReligionwithintheBoundariesofMereReason
  
Descartes’Meditations
  
Augustine’sCityofGod
  
Kant’sObservationsandRemarks
    
Nietzsche’sOntheGenealogyofMorality
  
Aristotle’sNicomacheanEthics
  
(Continued after the Index)
(cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17)
(cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17)
KIERKEGAARD’S
THE SICKNESS UNTO DEATH
A Critical Guide
 
JEFFREY HANSON
HarvardUniversity
SHARON KRISHEK
TheHebrewUniversityofJerusalem
(cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17)
UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridge,UnitedKingdom
OneLibertyPlaza,thFloor,NewYork,,USA
WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,,Australia
–,rdFloor,Plot,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre,NewDelhi–,India
PenangRoad,#–/,VisioncrestCommercial,Singapore
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/
:./
©CambridgeUniversityPress
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
:Hanson,Jeffrey,editor.|Krishek,Sharon,editor.
:Kierkegaard’sThesicknessuntodeath:acriticalguide/editedbyJeffreyHanson,Harvard
University,Massachusetts,SharonKrishek,TheHebrewUniversityofJerusalem.
:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,NY,USA:CambridgeUniversityPress,
.|:Cambridgecriticalguides|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
:(print)|(ebook)|
(hardback)|(paperback)|(epub)
::Kierkegaard,Søren,-.Sygdommentildøden.|Sin–Christianity.|
Despair–Religiousaspects–Christianity.|:PHILOSOPHY/History&Surveys/Modern
:.(print)|.(ebook)|/.–
dc/eng/
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/
----Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy
ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
(cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17)
Contents
List of Contributors page ix
Acknowledgments x
List of Abbreviations xi
Introduction 
Jeffrey Hanson and Sharon Krishek
 Kierkegaard’s Place of Rest 
George Pattison
 Publishing The Sickness unto Death: A Lesson in Double-
Mindedness 
Clare Carlisle
 Kierkegaard on the Self and the Modern Debate on Selfhood 
Anthony Rudd
 From Here to Eternity: Soteriological Selves and Time 
Patrick Stokes
 Kierkegaard’s Metaphysics of the Self 
Eleanor Helms
 The Experience of Possibility (and of Its Absence):
The Metaphysics of Moods in Kierkegaard’s
Phenomenological Psychology 
Rick Anthony Furtak
 Sin, Despair, and the Self 
RoeFremstedal
 Sin and Virtues 
Robert C. Roberts
vii
(cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17)
viii Contents
 Despair as Sin: The Christian and the Socratic 
Merold Westphal
 Fastening the End and Knotting the Thread: Beginning
Where Paganism Ends by Means of Paradox 
SylviaWalsh
 Despair the Disease and Faith the Therapeutic Cure 
Jeffrey Hanson
 The Long Journey to Oneself: The Existential Import
of The Sickness unto Death 
Sharon Krishek
 Accountability to God in The Sickness unto Death:
Kierkegaard’s Relational Understanding of the Human Self 
C. Stephen Evans
Bibliography 
Index 
(cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17)
Contributors
  Professor of Philosophy, King’s College London
.   University Professor of Philosophy and Humanities,
Baylor University
  Professor of Philosophy, Norwegian University of
Science and Technology
   Associate Professor of Philosophy, Colorado
College
  Senior Philosopher, Human Flourishing Program at
Harvard University
  Associate Professor of Philosophy, California
Polytechnic State University
  SeniorLecturerinPhilosophy,TheHebrewUniversity
of Jerusalem
  Retired Priest and Scholar, Scotland
 .  Distinguished Professor of Ethics Emeritus, Baylor
University
  Associate Professor of Philosophy, Saint Olaf College
  Associate Professor of Philosophy, Deakin University
  Retired Teacher of Philosophy, Stetson University
  Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus,
Fordham University
ix
(cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17)
Acknowledgments
Wewishtothankeachofourcontributorsfortheirhardworkandefforts.
Their cooperation, patience, and investment – particularly during the
unusualtimeofapandemic–aredeeplyappreciated.Weareverygrateful
to Hilary Gaskin of Cambridge University Press for the initiation of this
project and her support and encouragement all along the way. We would
like to thank two anonymous readers for Cambridge University Press, for
their detailed reports, good suggestions, and enthusiasm for the project.
This work was begun during a period of collaboration at Harvard
University’s Human Flourishing Program, and we are grateful to the
program for providing us with material support. Finally, we are grateful
to the Israel Science Foundation for supporting this project.
x
(cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17)