On the Affinities Between Hume and Kierkegaard

252 Pages·2013·0.91 MB·English

by  Jyrki Kivelä

Jyrki Kivelä
On the Affinities Between
Hume and Kierkegaard
Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by due permission of
the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki in auditorium XII
(Main Building, Unioninkatu 34), on the 16th of March, 2013 at 10
o’clock.
Filosofisia tutkimuksia Helsingin yliopistosta
Filosofiska studier från Helsingfors universitet
Philosophical Studies from the University of Helsinki
Publishers:
Theoretical Philosophy and Philosophy (in Swedish)
Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies
Social and Moral Philosophy
Department of Political and Economic Studies
P.O. box 24 (Unioninkatu 40 A)
00014 University of Helsinki
Finland
Editors:
Panu Raatikainen
Tuija Takala
Bernt Österman
Jyrki Kivelä
On the Affinities Between
Hume and Kierkegaard
ISBN 978-952-10-8613-7 (paperback)
ISBN 978-952-10-8614-4 (PDF)
ISSN 1458-8331
Kopio Niini Oy
Helsinki 2013
Contents
Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................................7
List of Abbreviations and Methods of Citation....................................................................................8
1. Introduction....................................................................................................................................14
1.1 Background..............................................................................................................................14
1.2 Synopsis...................................................................................................................................23
2. Kierkegaard’s Acquaintance with Hume’s Philosophy..................................................................28
3. Kierkegaard and the Idea of the Miraculous..................................................................................52
3.1 Kierkegaard on miracles..........................................................................................................57
3.2 Is the absolute paradox a miracle?...........................................................................................72
4. Hume and Kierkegaard on Belief...................................................................................................88
4.1 Hume’s theory of belief...........................................................................................................91
4.2 Kierkegaard’s two Tros ........................................................................................................104
5. Hume and Kierkegaard on Philosophy Gone Astray...................................................................123
5.1 Hume on true and false philosophy.......................................................................................123
5.2 Hume on ancient and modern philosophical fictions.............................................................127
5.2.1 The ancient fiction of substance.....................................................................................130
5.2.2 The modern fiction of the double existence of perceptions and objects........................149
5.3 Kierkegaard’s critique of the “system”..................................................................................164
5.3.1 Logical system vs. a system of existence.......................................................................171
5.3.2 Nicolaus Notabene, a meta-philosopher........................................................................188
6. Conclusion and Revocation..........................................................................................................205
Bibliography.....................................................................................................................................224

Acknowledgements
This work has been many years in the making. It was Professor Esa Saarinen who suggested that I
might write my master’s thesis on Kierkegaard. That was in the 1980s. After finishing my master’s
thesis I started reading Hume and soon begun to think that a comparison between Hume and
Kierkegaard could yield interesting results. These ideas took form in my licentiate thesis in the late
1990s. Professor Saarinen supervised both of these works. I thank him for his support and
confidence in my work and for his inspiring presence at the Department of Philosophy at the
University of Helsinki in the 1980s and 1990s. For many years after those student years I worked on
and (mostly …) off on my thesis along with my day job at Alko. I thank Docent Heidi Liehu for her
supervision of my dissertation in the late 1990s.
Finally, in the 2000s, Professor Sami Pihlström became my thesis supervisor. His quick
feedback and encouragement especially during the final phases of my work, no doubt even beyond
the call of duty, were important and inspiring for me and I am very grateful to him for these.
I thank Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation for partially funding my stay at the Howard and
Edna Hong Kierkegaard Library at St. Olaf College during the first three months of the 2000s when
I was accepted as a scholar in the Library’s visiting scholars program. Gordon Marino and Cynthia
Wales Lund made me feel very welcome to the Library and to Northfield. Unfortunately, my thanks
do not reach the late Howard and Edna Hong. I was happy to stay at their house (“Kierkegaard
House”) during my visit to St. Olaf. During those winter months, among other studies, I wrote an
article on Kierkegaard and miracles. The revised version of that article partly forms chapter three of
this thesis. I also thank University of Helsinki for funding the last writing weeks of my thesis. The
text was proofread by Doctor Mark Shackleton. All remaining mistakes are mine.
I thank my parents for their support throughout my life. Unfortunately, my thanks do not
reach my late mother. Finally and most importantly, I thank my daughter Anni for helping me to
ground my thinking in concrete existence.

7
List of Abbreviations and Methods of Citation
Hume’s writings
All references to A Treatise of Human Nature follow this form: T Book number. Part number.
Section number. Paragraph number; SBN Page number. SBN refers to the Selby-Bigge/Nidditch
edition of A Treatise of Human Nature (see below).
All references to An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding follow this form: EHU Section
number. Paragraph number; SBN Page number. SBN refers to the Selby-Bigge/Nidditch edition of
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (see below).
E Essays, moral, political, and literary, rev. ed., ed. by Eugene F. Miller. Indianapolis:
Liberty Fund, 1987.
EHU An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, ed. by Tom L. Beauchamp. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 2000.
EHUopt An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (Oxford Philosophical Texts), ed. by
Tom L. Beauchamp. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
SBN An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, in Enquiries Concerning Human
Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals, ed. by L. A. Selby-Bigge, 3rd rev.
ed. by P. H. Nidditch. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.
8
EPM An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, ed. by Tom L. Beauchamp. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1998.
NHR The Natural History of Religion in A Dissertation on the Passions; The Natural History of
Religion: a critical edition, ed. by Tom L. Beauchamp. New York: Oxford University Press,
2007. (Reference: NHR Section.Paragraph)
T Vol. 1 (Texts) of A Treatise of Human Nature, vols. 1-2, ed. by David Fate Norton
and Mary J. Norton. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Tv2 Vol. 2 (Editorial Material) of A Treatise of Human Nature, vols. 1-2, ed. by David Fate
Nortonand Mary J. Norton. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Topt A Treatise of Human Nature (Oxford Philosophical Texts), ed. by David Fate Norton and
Mary J. Norton. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
SBN A Treatise of Human Nature, ed. by L. A. Selby-Bigge, 2nd rev. ed. by P. H. Nidditch.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978.
Kierkegaard’s writings
With few exceptions that become evident in the text, all references to Kierkegaard’s writings follow
this form: SKS volume number, page number / Abbreviation of the English title, page number.
9
CA The Concept of Anxiety (Kierkegaard’s Writings, vol. 8), trans. By R. Thomte in
collaboration with A. B. Anderson. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980.
CUP1 Concluding Unscientific Postscript, vol. 1 (Kierkegaard’s Writings, vol. 12.1), trans.
by H. V. Hong and E. H. Hong. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.
CUP2 Concluding Unscientific Postscript, vol. 2 (Kierkegaard’s Writings, vol. 12.2), trans.
by H. V. Hong and E. H. Hong. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.
CUPHConcluding Unscientific Postscript, ed. and trans. by Alastair Hannay. Cambridge,
UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
E/O Either/Or, vols. 1-2 (Kierkegaard’s Writings, vols. 3-4), trans. by H. V. Hong and E. H.
Hong. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987.
EUD Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses (Kierkegaard’s Writings, vol. 5), trans. by H. V. Hong and
E. H. Hong. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990.
FT Fear and Trembling in Fear and Trembling and Repetition (Kierkegaard’s Writings, vol. 6),
trans. by H. V. Hong and E. H. Hong. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983.
10