Kierkegaard : exposition and critique

359 Pages·2014·1.57 MB·English

by  Hampson

Kierkegaard: Exposition
and Critique
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Kierkegaard
Exposition and Critique
Daphne Hampson
1
3
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Preface
Kierkegaard has been with me for many years and I have numerous
debtsofgratitude.Turningtotheologyinmymid-twentiesIknewIhad
tostudyKierkegaard.ProfessorDickNiebuhratHarvardwasgenerous
enoughwithhistimeastogivemeanindividualreadingcourse.Soit
was that I first tackled the texts of which I write today. From 1974
onwardsIhavemyselftaughtKierkegaardtoinnumerablestudentsat
the Universities of Stirling, St Andrews, and most recently in my
retirement in Oxford. It is in large part to this experience that the
genesisofthebookowes.Fascinatinghemaybe,butKierkegaardisno
easyread.IlackedabookthatdevotedchaptersinturntoKierkegaard’s
major texts, giving background information, expounding and finally
commenting on the text. Eventually one writes it oneself! Further
researchandthetaskofcompositionhavethusbeenadeeplysatisfying
culminationtowhathasbeenalife-longinvolvementwiththesetexts.
Ofauthor-relatedsocieties,theworld-widecommunityofKierke-
gaardscholarsmustbeoneofthebestconnected.Ihaveovertheyears
benefited from national and international conferences, in the UK,
Copenhagen,andtheStates.Iamgratefultohavebeenabletowork
intheKierkegaardlibrariesandresearchcentresatStOlafCollegein
Northfield,Minnesota,andinCopenhagen.Initialworkonthebook
wasundertakenatClareHall,Cambridge,whereasaVisitingScholar
Iwaspartofaquiteexceptionalinternationalcommunity.Particular
thanks are due to Simon Podmore, who, originally studying his
KierkegaardwithmeandnowafineKierkegaardscholar,hashelped
withquestionsrelatingtoreferencingandKierkegaardresearchweb-
sites: itis goodwhen things comefull circle.Gillian NorthcottLiles
and Kathie Gill have been a meticulous copy editors. Finally, a big
thank you to staff at Oxford University Press, particularly to Tom
Perridge, Lizzie Robottom and Jenny Lunsford; I have found it the
bestpresstoworkwiththatIhaveyetencountered.
Awordontranslations.Giventhattheyhavebecomestandard,Ihave
by default given references to the series of translations Kierkegaard’s
WritingsbyHowardandEdnaHongandinonecaseReidarThomte.
vi j preface
However,theearliertranslationsofDavidSwensonandWalterLowrie
stillringthroughmyearswithwhatstrikesmeastheirgreatersubtlety
and poetic quality suited to 19th-century texts, and not infrequently
greaterclarity.Onoccasion,particularlyinthefinalchapter,Ihavein
preference given quotations from these texts. Unfortunately I do not
have Danish. Thanks are due to Arne Grøn and George Pattison for
elucidationastotheconnotationsofvariouswords.Notinfrequentlyif
givingaDanishwordIhavealsogiventheequivalentGermanthinking
this useful to the many more readers who will know that language.
UnlessotherwisestatedtranslationsfromGermanaremyown.
Awordtooonthepuzzlingquestionoftheuseofgenderedversus
gender-inclusive language. I choose to continue to use gendered
language when discussing texts from a former age; this alone can
reflectthesensibilitiesofthatworld,inwhichmalewasaxiomatically
normative and employed without question for generic humanity.
When speaking of persons today I of course use gender-inclusive
language.
Idonotknowwhetheritispermittedinaprefacetoacknowledgea
debt of gratitude to the author of whom one writes? My life would
havebeensubtlydifferenthadInotencounteredKierkegaard.Hehas
beenasourceofdelightandedificationwithhisinsightsandperspi-
cacity. Iam moved byhis loveof God, hissensitivity to others, and
hissparklingwit.Butfurthermorehesetbeforemetheimplications
of Christian claims and, not having been brought up in orthodox
Christian belief (though awareness of God), enabled me to under-
standwithgreaterclaritywhyIshouldnotwishtobeChristian.He
has thus been a significant dialogue partner. I fundamentally agree
with him as to the importance of truth and integrity: that theology
cannot simply be an academic discipline but that the theologian–
philosophermustbeexistentiallyengagedasaperson.Thetimegap
thatseparatesusculturallyissignificant,yethealsolivesinthesame
universeasdoI,readingmanyofthesametexts—anditisthatthat
makesthedialoguewithhimsoworthwhile.Wouldthathecouldbut
knowthathewasindeeddiscovered(asindarkermomentshefeared
he might not be) by future generations. I can only hope that in my
workhewouldfindhisthoughtfaithfullyportrayed.
Acknowledgements
The following are acknowledged with thanks: Princeton University
Press, for permission to cite quotations from Howard V. Hong &
EdnaH.Hong,edsandtrans.TheCollectedWritingsofSørenKierke-
gaard,vol.1–(series);IndianaUniversityPress,forpermissiontocite
quotations from Howard V. Hong & Edna H. Hong, eds and trans.
Søren Kierkegaard’s Journals and Papers, vols 1–6; the Royal Library,
Copenhagen, Department of Maps, Prints, and Photographs for
permissiontousethecoverillustrations.
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Contents
ListofAbbreviations x
TimeChart xiii
Introduction:WhyReadKierkegaard? 1
1 Kierkegaard’sIntellectualContext 11
2 FearandTrembling 31
3 PhilosophicalFragments 60
4 TheConceptAngst 101
5 ConcludingUnscientificPostscriptto
PhilosophicalFragments 140
6 Love’sDeeds 179
7 TheSicknessUntoDeath 221
8 PracticeinChristianity 255
9 ThePointofViewForKierkegaard’sWorkasanAuthor 297
FurtherReading 321
IndexofPersons 325
IndexofSubjects 329