KIERKEGAARD, SØREN AABYE. - He is the greatest Danish writer and one of the most profound religious writers of all time. Born in Copenhagen on 5 May 1813 and died there on 11 Nov. 1855.
He led a secluded life, dedicated solely to reflection on the problems of the spirit. The most salient facts are the breaking of his engagement to Regina Olsen and the polemic with the humorous newspaper The Corsair and with the bishop of Denmark, Mynster. In 1842 he followed Schelling's lectures in Berlin but without coming under any decisive influence from them; he had instead a profound admiration for the poet-philosopher Paul Moeller, who initiated him into the understanding of the Greeks and especially of the personality of Socrates.
K.'s fertile literary activity can 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: aesthetic, ethical, religious, and for this reason they are attributed to special pseudonyms which are therefore not to be confused with the true author. The principal ones in chronological order are: Om Begrebet Ironi ("On the Concept of Irony"): this is his dissertation of 1841, published in the same year under the author's name; Enten-eller ("Either/Or"): a fragment of life edited by Victor Eremita (1843), it consists of two parts which treat respectively of the aesthetic and the ethical life, with a final reflection of religious inspiration: it is the work that won 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 Constantin Constantius (1843); Philosophische Smuler ("Philosophical Fragments") by Johannes Climacus (1844): here for the first time the problem of existential truth is posed as the absolute "paradox" of Christ, Man-God; Begrebet Angest ("The Concept of Anxiety"): a simple demonstrative psychological reflection in the direction of 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 edited by Hilarius Bogbinder (1845); Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift til de philosophiske Smuler ("Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments"): a mimico-pathetico-dialectical composition, an existential essay by Johannes Climacus: it is K.'s principal theoretical work against immanence; Sygdommen til Døden ("The Sickness unto Death"): a development of Christian psychology for edification and awakening, by 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 Christendom" of Danish Protestantism, signed by K., and published, the first nine, from 24 May to 24 Sept. 1855 (the tenth posthumously). - b) The second group of Works forms "direct communication" and was therefore published under K.'s name; the Edifying Discourses (Ophyggelige Taler) accompany the whole of K.'s literary activity and were meant to provide readers with the true orientation of the thought of the author of the pseudonymous works: an effect, however, that K. did not obtain from the public. The principal collections of Edifying Discourses are: Kierlighedens Gjerninger ("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 form the masterpiece of Kierkegaardian religiosity; Lilien paa Marhen og Fuglen under Himlen ("The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air"), three devout discourses by S. K. (1849): it is the second series of discourses on this favorite theme and is the most successful; Christelige Taler ("Christian Discourses") by S. K. (1847): they present the other aspect of the Christian life, that of struggle and suffering; Vperprenæten-Tolderen-Synderinden ("The High Priest, the Tax Collector, the Sinful Woman"): three discourses for Friday Communion (1849); Guds Uforanderlighed ("The Immutability of God"): a discourse by S. K. (1855, but it was delivered in 1851 and dedicated, like most of the edifying discourses, to the memory of his old father). - c) The third group of 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 notes on readings (group C). The following writings deserve to be pointed out: Johannes Climacus ovvero "de omnibus est dubitandum" (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 strong polemic on the problem of authority in matters of faith against the alleged revelations of the pastor Adler; Den ethisk og den ethiskreligieuse Meddelses Dialektik ("The Dialectic of Ethical and Ethico-Religious Communication"): an attempt at a theoretical essay, several times planned, but left unfinished (it is found in VIII B 81). To direct communication also belongs the essay: Synspunkt for min Forfatter-Virksomhed ("The Point of View for My Work as an Author"), of 1848, in which 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 oriented, but no form of existentialism (v.) that appeals to him more or less directly has yet done so, and this is probably the principal cause of the crisis in which contemporary existentialism is mired. The cornerstones of the Kierkegaardian conception can be summarized in the following points:
1. Profession of realism: world, man and God represent distinct spheres of being, and man can relate both to the finite (aesthetic life) and to the Infinite (ethico-religious life): against immanentist idealism, especially Hegelian.
2. Profession of spiritualism: man is a free subject who must decide about his being as "spirit" and decides precisely by "choice"; but this choice is saved only in "faith" and with it in authentic transcendence, against every form of materialism, subjectivism and immanence, including Socratic.
3. Profession of Christianity: in the person of Christ, Man-God, time and eternity, finite and infinite meet, and thus Christ was able to save from sin by his life, passion and death; but Christ is Grace and model together, and this means that the Christian, if he is saved by the Grace of Christ, is also obliged to show his correspondence and gratitude to Grace by the "imitation of Christ": a moment of ascesis, against the eudemonism of Protestant Christianity. These three points also represent approximately the three principal phases of K.'s existence, especially in the final struggle against Bishop Mynster's conception of Christianity, which cost him his life. K. repeatedly affirms the superiority of Catholic Christianity over Protestant, but he did not arrive at an explicit acceptance of Catholicism, as many did, driven by the ardor and the force of his writings.
Bibliography7 works
Cornelio Fabro