KIERKEGAARD, SOEREN AABYE. – He is the greatest Danish writer and one of the most profound religious writers of all time. B. in Copenhagen on 5 May 1813 and d. there on 11 November 1855.
He led a secluded life, devoted exclusively to reflection on the problems of the spirit. The most notable events were the breaking off of his engagement to Regina Olsen and his polemic with the humorous newspaper Il Corsaro and with the bishop of Denmark, Mynster. In 1842 he attended Schelling’s lectures in Berlin, but without being decisively influenced by him; instead, he had a profound admiration for the philosopher-poet Paul Moeller, who initiated him into an understanding of the Greeks and especially of the personality of Socrates.
K.’s fruitful literary activity may be divided into three groups: a) the Pseudonymous Works, b) the Edifying Writings, c) the Papers published after his death. d) The first group represents «indirect communication», that is, the presentation of the ideal situations of human existence: the aesthetic and the religious-ethical; for this reason, they are attributed to special pseudonyms, which must not therefore be confused with the true author. The principal works, in chronological order, are: Om Begrebet Ironi («On the concept of irony»): his 1841 thesis, published in the same year under the author’s name; Enten-eller («Either-Or»): a fragment of life published by Victor Eremita (1843), consisting of two parts dealing respectively with the aesthetic and ethical life, followed by a final reflection of religious inspiration: it is the work that earned him the greatest success among his contemporaries; Frygt og Baeven («Fear and trembling») by Johannes de silentio (1843); Gjentagelse («Repetition»): an essay in experimental psychology by Costantino Constantius (1843); Philosophische Smuler («Philosophical fragments») by Johannes Climacus (1844): here the problem of existential truth is posed for the first time as the absolute «paradox» of Christ, Man-God; Begrebet Angest («The concept of anxiety»): a simple demonstrative psychological reflection directed toward the dogmatic problem of original sin, by Vigilius Haufniensis (1844); Stadier paa Livets Vej («Stages on life’s way»): studies by various authors collected and published by Hilarius Bogbinder (1845); Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift til de philosophiske Smuler («Concluding unscientific postscript to the philosophical fragments»): a mimetic-pathetic-dialectical composition, an existential essay by Johannes Climacus; it is K.’s principal theoretical work against immanence; Sygdommen til Døden («The sickness unto death»): an elaboration of Christian psychology for the edification and awakening of Anticlimacus (1849: Anticlimacus is the extraordinary Christian, whereas Jo. Climacus is not a Christian). Indaevelse i Christendom («Practice in Christianity») by Anticlimacus (1850); Oejblikket («The moment»): a series of polemical pamphlets against the «established Christianity» of Danish Protestantism, signed by K. and published, the first nine, from 24 May to 24 September 1855 (the tenth posthumously). – b) The second group of Works constitutes «direct communication» and was therefore published under K.’s name. The Edifying Discourses (Ophyggelige Taler) accompany K.’s entire literary activity and were intended to provide readers with the true orientation of the thought of the author of the pseudonymous works: an effect, however, that K. did not achieve among the public. The principal collections of Edifying Discourses are: Kierlighedens Gjerninger («The works of love»): some Christian reflections in the form of discourses by S. K. (1847); they are a vibrant commentary on St. Paul’s theology of love and constitute the masterpiece of Kierkegaardian religiosity; Lilien paa Marhen og Fuglen under Himlen («The lily of the field and the bird of the air»), three devotional discourses by S. K. (1849): this is the second series of discourses on this favored theme and the most successful; Christelige Taler («Christian discourses») by S. K. (1847): they present the other aspect of Christian life, that of struggle and suffering; Vperprenæten-Tolderen-Synderinden («The high priest, the publican, the sinner»): three discourses for Friday Communion (1849); Guds Uforanderlighed («The immutability of God»): a discourse by S. K. (1855, though it was delivered in 1851 and dedicated, like most of the edifying discourses, to the memory of his old father). – c) The third group, the Papers (Popirer), comprises the Diary properly so called (group A), drafts of works, corrections, notes and reflections, or unpublished articles (group B), and finally reading notes (group C). The following writings deserve mention: Johannes Climacus ovvero «de omnibus est dubitandum» (an autobiographical fragment; it is found in IV B 1); Bog om Adler («Book on Adler»); complete, but left unpublished and now in VII B 235. It is a vigorous polemic on the problem of authority in matters of faith directed against Pastor Adler’s claims to revelations; Den ethisk og den ethiskreligieuse Meddelses Dialektik («The dialectic of ethical and ethical-religious communication»): an attempt at a theoretical essay, planned several times but left unfinished (it is found in VIII B 81). The essay Synspunkt for min Forfatter-Virksomhed («The point of view of my activity as a writer»), from 1848, also belongs to direct communication; in it K. asserts the religious significance of his literary activity.
It is only on the basis of this complex production that an adequate interpretation of K.’s thought can be developed, existentialism (v.) that refers to him more or less directly has yet done so, and this is probably the principal cause of the crisis in which contemporary existentialism finds itself. The fundamental principles of the Kierkegaardian conception may be summarized in the following points:
1. Profession of realism: the world, man and God represent distinct spheres of being, and man can relate both to the finite (aesthetic life) and to the Infinite (ethical-religious life): against immanentist idealism, especially Hegelian idealism.
2. Profession of spiritualism: man is a free subject who must decide about his being as «spirit», and he decides precisely through «choice»; but this choice is saved only in «faith», and through it in authentic transcendence, against every form of materialism, subjectivism and immanence, including Socratic immanence.
3. Profession of Christianity: in the person of Christ, Man-God, time and eternity, the finite and the infinite meet, and thus Christ was able to save from sin through his life, passion and death; but Christ is both Grace and model, and this means that the Christian, if saved by the Grace of Christ, is also obliged to demonstrate his response and gratitude to Grace through the «imitation of Christ»: a moment of asceticism, against the eudemonism of Protestant Christianity. These three points also approximately represent the three principal phases of K.’s existence, especially in the final struggle against the bishop Mynster’s conception of Christianity, which cost him his life. K. repeatedly affirms the superiority of Catholic Christianity over Protestant Christianity, but he did not arrive at an explicit acceptance of Catholicism, as did many who were impelled by the ardor and power of his writings.