The passion of infinity : Kierkegaard, Aristotle and the rebirth of tragedy

346 Pages·2008·1.859 MB·English

by  Greenspan, Daniel

Kierkegaard Studies
Monograph Series
19
Kierkegaard
Studies
Editedonbehalfofthe
SørenKierkegaardResearchCentre
byNielsJørgenCappelørnandHermannDeuser
Monograph Series
19
Editedby
NielsJørgenCappelørn
Walter de Gruyter·Berlin· NewYork
DanielGreenspan
The Passion of Infinity
Kierkegaard,AristotleandtheRebirthofTragedy
Walter de Gruyter·Berlin· NewYork
KierkegaardStudies
EditedonbehalfoftheSørenKierkegaardResearchCentre
byNielsJørgenCappelørnandHermannDeuser
MonographSeries
Volume19
EditedbyNielsJørgenCappelørn
(cid:2)(cid:2)Printedonacid-freepaperwhichfallswithintheguidelinesoftheANSI
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Greenspan,Daniel.
Thepassionofinfinity:Kierkegaard,Aristotle,andtherebirthoftrag-
edy/DanielGreenspan.
p.cm.(cid:2)(Kierkegaardstudies.Monographseries,ISSN1434-2952;
19)
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN978-3-11-020396-7(clothbound:alk.paper)
1. Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813(cid:2)1855. 2. Aristotle. 3. Tragedy.
I.Title.
B4377.G7195 2008
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2008026010
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ISBN978-3-11-020396-7
ISSN1434-2952
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For Piet,
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Acknowledgments
Without the support of the Howard and Edna Hong Library at St. Olaf
College, which made a substantial amount of advanced research pos-
sible, and the generous spirit of Gordon Marino and Cynthia Lund, I
would have been nowhere near as prepared to begin this project. For
support both material and spiritual during the actual writing I need
to thank the Kierkegaard Research Center, along with the Fulbright
foundation, who together made my Copenhagen residency possible.
There were many faculty members there from whom this project ben-
efited, but certainly its most warm and welcoming director, Niels Jør-
gen Cappelørn, whose editorial advice was essential, and whose en-
couraging presence across the hall often brought a lift. Joakim Garff,
a kind of Socratic-comic guide while at the Center, must also accept
my warm appreciation for his reading and sympathetic support, as
must Jonas Roos, for a passing remark that provided far more than he
realized. Although most of the work was completed abroad, both be-
fore and during this process there were two readers in the U.S. whose
contributions were essential. Walter Brogan has been a source of valu-
able insight, particularly on the Greece sections. I especially need to
thank Jack Caputo for his concernful mentoring of this project. His
keen eye and sense for where to pull back from the edge were vital.
Finally, Irene Ring and James Sikkema were both an indispensable
part of the preparation of the manuscript, the latter sent at a critical
moment apparently by the gods, volunteering without any obligation
or hope of recompense.
And of course, I need to thank Dana, for standing so close by me
every step of the way.

Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Part I
Ancient Greece
1. Reason and the Irrational: Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus . 10
2. Literature and Moral Psychology: From Homer to
Sophocles .......................................... 47
3. Aristotle’s Poetics: Oedipusand the Problem of Tragedy . 70
4. PsuchêRedux: Philosophy and the New Psychology...... 95
5. Psychologizing Oedipus: Reason and Unreason in
Aristotle’s Ethics.................................... 107
Part II
Golden Age Denmark
A. Kierkegaard’s Retrieval of Greek Tragedy
6. Tragedy as Historical Idea: Either/Or’s“Ancient Drama
Reflected in the Modern”............................. 140
7. Stages on Life’s Way: Hamartia after Modernity ......... 158
8. Fear and Trembling: Tragedy, Comedy and the Heroism
of Abraham ........................................ 195
9. The Concept of Anxiety: Fate and the Tragic Logos of
Second Ethics ...................................... 209
x Table of Contents
B. Beyond Eudaimonism:
Tragic Virtue and the Practice of Eternity
10. Moral Psychology in the Pseudonyms, Search for a Method 237
11. Ethics ContraEthics: Climacus on Eternal Happiness and
Tragic Virtue ...................................... 265
12. Kierkegaard and the Tragedy of Authorship............ 293
Bibliography........................................... 317
Index of Names ........................................ 327
Index of Subjects ....................................... 330