Freedom and Time in Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety

322 Pages·2014·14.2 MB·English

FREEDOM AND TIME IN KIER.KECAARD'S

THE CONCEPT OF ANXIETY

By.
DAVID J. HUMBERT, B.A., M.A.
A Thesis

Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies

in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

McMaster University

Spring, 1983
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (1983) McMASTER UNIVERSITY
(Religious Studies) Hamilton, Ontario
TITLE: Freedom and Time in Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety
AUTHOR: John David James Humbert, B.A. (McMaster University)
M.A. (McMaster University)
SUPERVISOR: Dr· Ian G. Weeks
NUMBER OF PAGES: xii, 310
ii
ABSTRACT
This dissertation is a commentary on one of Spren Kierkegaard's
most difficult works, The Concept of Anxiety. Its aim is to show that
Kierkegaard does not have a modern existentialist understanding of the
self. It is in his treatment of the problems of freedom and time in
The Concept of Anxiety that the differences of his thought from the
tradition of existentialism can be most clearly seen. The doctrine which
is central to existentialism, according to which man makes himself and
is therefore the creator of all meaning and value, is often attributed
by some commentators to the thought of Kierkegaard. It is my claim that
such a doctrine is incompatible with the religious basis of Kierkegaard's
view of the self. For Kierkegaard the freedom of the self does not
consist in the fact that the possibilities for choice are unlimited.
The self becomes free only by acknowledging its dependence on a reality
which is external to the self and which eternally defines it. Kierkegaard's
view of freedom and the self is closer to that of Augustine's, according
to which the self becomes free by being bound to God. Freedom is therefore
not an immediate possession of the self but something which must be
acquired by virtue of the supernatural action of grace, the origin of
which is God.
A corollary of the existentialist view of the self is that the
self is inextricably caught within time relations, and therefore perpetu­
ally divided from the presence of the eternal. Kierkegaard's argument, as
iii
it is presented in The Concept of Anxiety, assumes, on the contrary,
that for the self to be a self it must come into a real relation to the
eternal in what he calls the "Moment". I will argue on the basis of
this interpretation that Kierkegaard's articulation of the self's relation
to time further differentiates him from the existentialist tradition.
This conclusion also flows from the fact that Kierkegaard's understanding
of the self is a theological one.
Though it is quite widely held that Kierkegaard was the found.er
of the existentialist movement, it will be my argument that such an
assumption is based on a misconception. Though certain writers of the
twentieth century adopted Kierkegaard as their own, they did so only
by truncating the basic elements of his view of the self.
iv
ACKNOWLEJX;EMENTS
I would like to express my thanks, first of all, to Dr· Ian Weeks,
who contributed most to what is contained in this dissertation. I benefited
n.ot only from his profound knowledge of Kierkegaard's thought, but also
f'rom his care and encouragement and from his unflagging enthusiasm for
thinking and teaching. I would also like to acknowledge the help and
inspiration I have received from Dr. George P. Grant, who has decisively
influenced my thinking on many important matters. To have studied under
two such teachers is the privilege of only a few.
The gradual process of thinking out and writing a dissertation
is dependent not only on solitary research, but also on many casual and
unexpectedly illuminating conversations with those whom one is honoured
to call f'riends. Among those whom I would like to thank f'or such conversa­
tions are: Bruce and Norma Ward, Spencer Estabrooks, Wayne Sheppard,
Gordon and Mary Lu Redden, David Bourne, Cameron Wybrow, Colin O'Connell,
a:nd John Byers. I would also like to acknowledge the help and guidance
of Louis Greenspan and Sam Ajzenstat over the years and during the final
stages of the dissertation. Such thanks are also due to Wayne Whillier,
whose first year course in Religious Studies first moved me to enter
that discipline.
I also owe a great debt to my mother and father for encouragement,
support and love during my time of study. Finally, I would like to thank
my lovely wife Debra, who not only inspired with her words and her beauty,
but also gave me courage when it was most neededo
v
This dissertation is dedicated to the students and tutors of
Cool School, and especially to Dr. James E. Anderson, from whom I first
learned about the connection between love and education:
"• •• he healed our wounds, rallied our scattered forces,
and encouraged us to join him in pursuing the inquiry."
Plato, Phaedo
vi
"Successive nights, like rolling waves,

Convey them quickly, who are bound for death."

George Herbert, Mortification
"More and more firmly am I convinced that what we call
sadness, anguish, despair, as though to persuade ourselves
that these are only states of the Spirit, are the Spirit
itself."
Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a
Country Priest
"And yet the lilies and the birds are unconditionally
joyful; and it is here most properly you may perceive
how true it is when the Gospel says, Thou shalt learn
joyfulness from the lilies and the birds. A better
teacher you could not possibly require than one who,
though he himself carries such an infinitely deep sorrow,
is yet unconditionally joyful and is joy itself."
Spren Kierkegaard, The Lilies of the
Field and the Birds of the Air
vii
PREFACE

All references to the works of Kierkegaard will appear in the
body of the dissertation using the following abbreviations:
I-XVI Spren Kierkegaards Papirer
f~
~Y. 1-14 Spren Kierkegaards Samlede Vaerker
CD Christian Discourses
~[ 8 The Concept of Anxiety
CI The Concept of Irony
CUP Concluding Unscientific Postscript
El2 1-4 Edifying Discourses
EC~ 1-2 Either/Or
Fear and Trembling
F~~
JI:_ 1-7 Journals and Papers
Philosophical Fragments
PE~
The Point of View for My Work as an
Author
PH Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing
RI' Repetition
KW 19 The Sickness unto Death
SLW Stages on Life's Way
Thoughts on Crucial Situations in
Human Life
TC Training in Christianity
WL Works of Love
viii
1) References to Kierkegaard's works will be put in brackets
1ieside the relevant quotation. The English translation will be cited
first, followed by a semi-colon and the volume and page numbers of the
Danish edition.
2) In some cases I have amended translations which inadequately
represent the Danish original. The amendments have been enclosed in
square brackets.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
F'REFACE viii
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER ONE Freedom and the Actualization of the Good 19
I Kierkegaard's Critique of Hegel 19
(.) Socratic Ignorance 19
(~i)
Necessity and the Actual in Hegel's
Thought 22
iiii) Kierkegaard's View of Kant and Hegel 28
iv) Kierkegaard's Criticism of Kant 33
v) Kierkegaard's Criticism of Hegel 35
II Sin and the Actualization of the Good 41
l
i) Mood and Appropriation 41
ii) The Science Appropriate to Sin 46
iii) Conclusion 52
CHAPTER TWO Freedom and Original Sin 54
I Freedom and Nothingness 54
II Anxiety and Original Sin 65
ii) Individual and Race 66
ii) Anxiety and Spirit 72
iii) Anxiety and the Transition into Sin 78
III Anxiety and the Sin of the Subsequent
Individual 85
ii..) Objective Anxiety 85
)
Subjective Anxiety 89
~~i)
Anxiety and the Body-Soul-Spirit
Relation 92
(iv) The Individual and the Sin of the
Others 98
CHAPTER THREE
Freedom and Time 105

I Freedom and the Spirit 105

x