The Philosophy of Kierkegaard

Continental European Philosophy

by George Pattison

Although the ideas of Soren Kierkegaard played a pivotal role in shaping mainstream German philosophy and French existentialism, the question of how philosophers should read Kierkegaard is difficult. His intransigent religiosity has led some philosophers to view him essentially as a religious thinker with an anti-philosophical attitude. In a major new survey of Kierkegaard's thought, George Pattison addresses this question and shows that although it would be difficult to claim a philosophy of Kierkegaard as one can a philosophy of Kierkegaard examines existence, anxiety, the good, and the infinite qualitative difference and the absolute paradox, arguing that the challenge of self-knowledge in an age of moral and intellectual uncertainty which lies at the heart of Kierkegaard's writings is as important today as it was in the culture of post-Enlightenment modernity.

Genres: Philosophy, Religion

205 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Kamakana · Rating 3 out of 5]

270514: this is a much later addition: just reading an article on a new book on kg, so try to remember aspects learned from this book and other study. the argument offered is that through his severity kg was what we call today a 'religious extremist', of the christian variety. this reminds me of the 'spheres' in which one may live (hedonist, ethical, religious) and the 'leap of faith', the essential 'paradox' of religion- is this an 'extremist'? is there an equivalence in my 'secular' belief? however much i can imagine rigorous dialectic, logic, epistemology, is there an original 'leap' towards 'worlds' according to the 'techne' of heidegger? i do not believe so, i believe in openness, unending query, and the 'book'(s) i follow are those of the worlds we live (including the 'universe') and not the worlds 'revealed' to us...

first review: this is a well-structured philosophy book- existence, anxiety, the good... but then here and the last two sections, seem to be religious philosophy or philosophy of religion (in this case christianity), and my interest starts to drift. can see how kg can be interpreted as a proto-existentialist, can also see how heidegger denies this. existence indeed precedes essence in sartre, whereas here it emanates from god. this is the god of philosophers. not theologians but perhaps as heidegger saw kg as 'onto-theological'. anxiety is certainly significant here, though the way of being religious is not the atheistic, existential, sartrean way, and again the appeal is finally to god. and the good is... well, at first too simply your society, but its lineage, its rightness, again is determined by god. there is a lot of heidegger. there is a lot on how kg leads to existential morality of living...

why a three? this is not a bad mark, i did like it, the book is good, but more as seeing source and arguments around existentialism than kg's philosophy. i have trouble agreeing to an ethic, to morality, based on our supposed belief in the infinite... and absolute... core of 'revealed' christianity. whose main problem is not being followed or argued by socrates. clarifies how much i do not want to follow or believe any sort of religious thought. which is a problem here as kg is finally something other than philosopher, and even if the god is that of philosophers, there is just too much parochial (christian) argument. i do not want to claim this is a case of counting angels on top of a pin... but while the book is organized well, the concerns at first existential, the good is finally what god says (tell me abraham does not sacrifice isaac- this makes the test better?)... i am not religious in any way... though i also am not dismissive or try not to be prejudiced against...

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kierkegaard is often seen as "just a religious thinker" or "just a writer" and anti-philosophical or anti-intellectual. Pattison objects to this dismissal and offers an interpretive coherence to Kierkegaard's work and situates it within the broader philosophical tradition. Pattison primarily focuses on the roles of existence, anxiety, the good, the infinite qualitative difference, and paradox in Kierkegaard's writing as examples of "philosophic" thinking. I disagreed with Pattison's approach (taking all the pseudonyms as Kierkegaard's own opinions) as well as the conclusion (Kierkegaard, in my opinion, is inherently anti-philosophic in the modern understanding, which is precisely his importance to the modern church), but still felt that Pattison's books offers a fairly cogent interpretation of Kierkegaard and a philosophical justification for reading him (even if I don't think the justification is necessary!)