In this paper, we will present the specific and pioneering brand of existentialism developed by Søren Kierkegaard, an immensely influential European thinker who ushered in a whole new era of ...philosophy. We will analyze his view of the problem of existence and, more specifically, the self as to how an individual must first become separated from others (the masses or the public), to then become a new person through faith in God, the key Other that makes one’s whole life appear as new. Kierkegaard’s influence on the further development of philosophy is almost beyond comparison, as is apparent first and foremost in existentialism and its various versions developed in the 20th century, and through these developments, it has shaped the course of philosophical thought extending far beyond the borders of Europe. In his view, the life of a human individual is tightly bound up with the relation towards the other. This requires, on the one hand, a certain denial of the other qua the others and, on the other hand, an all-encompassing turning towards and acceptance of the Other, i.e. God (as the highest degree of human accomplishment cannot be achieved without this recognition of God as the Other with the initial capital).
The article concerns that aspect of human existence that is frequently neglected both in everyday reflection and in social and humanistic research; namely, earth (soil). It attempts to make a ...synthetic reconstruction of the relations binding man with the soil preferred in western culture. Apart from identification of the predominant relations, which can be boiled down to it being treated as inanimate matter that is exploited, other concepts are also presented in which soil is perceived as the fundamental medium in sustaining life, change, and the transformation and reshaping of everything that exists. The article comprises three fragments, focusing on practices in cultivation, burial, and celebratory forms of contact with the soil.
In this article, I propose to use Søren Kierkegaard’s existential critique of the establishment — intellectual, social, and religious — in the name of common people to bring out the dialectic ...character of populism often overlooked or ignored in the present-day use of the concept. Although populism is generally viewed as negative, Kierkegaard can help us to see that notwithstanding the very real and dangerous threat that populism poses to liberal societies, it is not, from a liberal perspective, unequivocally negative. Populism is endemic to liberalism, and we should not — and cannot — simply try to suppress or eradicate populism from our agendas. Instead, we have to see how populism dialectically reveals serious problems at the heart of contemporary liberalism. A Kierkegaardian approach to populism will allow me to bring out one of the most fundamental of these problems, namely the persistent inequality that permeates liberal democracies undermining the admittedly vague Enlightenment ideal of equality.
In this article, the author intends to show that the question of the human being as weltbildend, which Heidegger discusses in his lecture on Grundbegriffe der Metaphysik (WS 1929/30), could be ...helpfully read in light of Kant und das Problem der Metaphysik (1929), so as to appreciate the role played by the destruction (Destruktion) of Kant’s Einbildungskraft in the description of Weltbildung. The latter is only a formal indication (formale Anzeige), which is useful to make thought proceed, but which cannot escape its final destruction. The language of bilden is meant to be dissolved in another language. In this contribution, particular attention is given to the concluding paragraph 76 of Grundbegriffe der Metaphysik, by insisting on the notion of Ent-wurf.
The present paper engages with Heidegger’s attempt to rethink, during the 1930s, the metaphysical history of being from the inside. It treats the movement of the appearance of Being (Seyn) in the ...concealment of the essence of truth, and moving from such a notion of “essence” (Wesen), it shows that the role of Phantasie falls within the seynsgeschichtliches Denken. The Heideggerian “Phantasie des Wesens” is thus studied through Holderlin’s poetry, which is central to the elaboration of the “thought of the history of being” in the thirties. It seems therefore, following Heidegger’s interpretation, that is from its own language (Sprache) that the metaphysical history of being can be rethought or “reinvented”. The paper rather explores the process of channeling Stimmung into Grund-stimmung, by which the Phantasie may be able to shape the experience of meaning.
The article reconstructs Kierkegaardʼs understanding of self-knowledge, especially with the use of The Concept of Irony, The Sickness Unto Death, and Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses. First, irony is ...interpreted as a step – dangerous indeed, but unavoidable – in the process of oneʼs self-knowledge. The concept of self-knowledge is then related to Kierkegaardʼs concept of transparency in faith. Self-knowledge is thus understood as a form of self-realization, that is, a concept which goes beyond mere epistemology, as it involves four elements, namely knowledge, will, feeling and imagination. Particular attention is paid to the aspect of knowledge (what it is we should know about ourselves), which leads to the problem of the corruption of will (sin). This concept illustrates how Kierkegaardʼs ethical emphasis on self-knowledge culminates in religiosity. It is also shown how alongside his Christian assumptions Kierkegaard is still attentive to the psychological conditions of possibility of manʼs ethical act of self-realization. Self-knowledge is thus reconstructed in its duality, as a process which is for Kierkegaard both substantial and relational: Kierkegaard understands self-knowledge both as an ethical claim upon man and as a religious act whose accomplishment is dependent on Godʼs intervention. The article next discusses how self-knowledge involves a relationship to and “knowledge” of God. Finally, it is shown that self-knowledge presupposes not only that one believes himself or herself to be known by God, but also by his or her fellow human beings.
In this article, the question asked by Jean-Luc Marion – “What love knows?” – is adressed to the works of Soren Kierkegaard, causing us to problematise the interrelation between love and knowledge ...along two traditional lines of interpretation, either viewing love as pertaining to the domain of the will, action, or understanding love as a passion. In the first case, Kierkegaard argues about a radical rupture between knowledge and will, which, guided by the imperative of neighbourly love, rather commands us to become the neighbour to the other, not to know the neighbour. Thus, the possibility of love’s knowledge in the works of Kierkegaard must always be subordinated to the notion of love as an existential actuality, giving existence the priority to limit the field of knowledge. In the second case, although love as a passion plays the central role in the general Kierkgaardian model of love, it can not be understood as an unambiguous form of knowledge, since this would mean to disregard the constitutive qualitative difference which Kierkegaard draws between the human and the divine.
Australasian Journal of Philosophy The Bloomsbury Companion to Existentialism, edited by Felicity Joseph, Jack Reynolds, and Ashley Woodward London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014, pp. x + 406, AU$49.99 ...(paperback).
The focus of the present article is the role of the founder of Kierkegaard library in St. Olaf's College (Northfield, Minnesota) Howard Vincent Hong (1912-2010) in Kierkegaard studies and in the ...Latvian refugees' resettlement after the Second World War, where he acted as a director of the LIRS (Lutheran lmmigration and Refugee Service) in 1947-1949. The questions can be posed in the following way. What is the predominant factor of his choice of the academic career? In other words, was Hong's interest in Kierkegaard (especially in his "For Self-Examination" and "Works of Love") the reason for his volunteer work with war prisoners and war refugees or, vice versa, was the life-long Kierkegaard translation Project inspired by his social activities and public service? It seems that the answer is to be found in the interdependence of both factors.
The article consists of three parts. The first chapter "Hong and Latvians" describes Howard Hong's Latvian connections. First, his work with displaced persons of the Latvian origin. Second, his role in the resettlement program both as field officer and as a sponsor (he alone was responsible for the 250 Latvian emigrants in Northfield, Minnesota). For the distinguished service to Latvia and Latvians Howard Hong in 1998 received the highest award of the Republic of Latvia - the Three Star Order, as well as there is a painting by the Latvian artist August Annus exhibited in the Kierkegaard Library. Thirdly, there is more personal reason for calling Howard Hong the accidental Latvian - the Hongs, while in Germany, adopted two Latvian orphans - Irena and Eric.
