Influence and reception of Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher whose influence and reception varied widely and may be roughly divided into various chronological periods. Reactions were anything but uniform, and proponents of various ideologies attempted to appropriate his work quite early.
Kierkegaard's reputation as a philosopher was first established in his native Denmark with his work Either/Or.[1] Henriette Wulff, in a letter to Hans Christian Andersen, wrote, "Recently a book was published here with the title Either/Or! It is supposed to be quite strange, the first part full of Don Juanism, skepticism, et cetera, and the second part toned down and conciliating, ending with a sermon that is said to be quite excellent. The whole book attracted much attention. It has not yet been discussed publicly by anyone, but it surely will be. It is actually supposed to be by a Kierkegaard who has adopted a pseudonym...."[1]
Kierkegaard's fame in Denmark increased with each publication of his philosophical works, including
Kierkegaard's thought gained a wider audience with the translation of his works into German, French, and English.
Kierkegaard and philosophy and theology
Many
Philosophers and theologians influenced by Kierkegaard include
Kierkegaard and psychology
Kierkegaard had a profound influence on
Kierkegaard and literature
Kierkegaard influenced
Other figures deeply influenced by his work include
Kierkegaard after World War I
Kierkegaard's present stature in the English-speaking world owes much to the exegetical writings and improved Kierkegaard translations by the American theologian Walter Lowrie, the
Kierkegaard's influence on
Kierkegaard has also influenced members of the
Kierkegaard predicted his posthumous fame, and foresaw that his work would become the subject of intense study and research. In his journals, he wrote:
"What the age needs is not a genius—it has had geniuses enough, but a martyr, who in order to teach men to obey would himself be obedient unto death. What the age needs is awakening. And therefore someday, not only my writings but my whole life, all the intriguing mystery of the machine will be studied and studied. I never forget how God helps me and it is therefore my last wish that everything may be to his honour."[17]
Kierkegaard and feminism
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Kierkegaard's relationship to feminism is a troublesome one, Kierkegaard has been described as misogynistic, making "snide comments about woman’s nature, mocking with utmost irony her “great abilities” and sneering at the possibility of her emancipation" although Dera Sipe of Villanova University states that viewing Kierkegaard as a "straight misogynist is highly problematic".[18]
In her paper Kierkegaard and Feminism: A Paradoxical Friendship, Sipe commends Kierkegaard for taking "a hammer to the cold foundations of traditional Western philosophy" and introducing existentialism which feminism has adopted and thrived in.[18] She then states that due to Kierkegaard's rampant use of Pseudonyms one must separate Kierkegaard from his Pseudonyms.[a] Sipe argues that it "would be of more benefit to feminism not to read Kierkegaard in search of his own personal stance on the woman question, but rather to read him in an exploratory manner as one who has exposed new avenues of thought, new ways of examining the woman question".[18] Sipe, after examining his essay on the suffragette movement and the seducer's diary and their misogynistic content, then pivots towards Kierkegaard's view on the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus and Sarah, the young daughter of Raguel and Edna both of whom Kierkegaard considers to be knights of faith.[18] She states that from these examples it is clear that Kierkegaard (or at least Johannes de Silentio) did hold great respect for women.[18]
International reception
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In France
Kierkegaard was first mentioned in a French publication in 1856 in
The first translation of Kierkegaard into French was published in 1886 by Johannes Gøtzsche, with a preface by the theologian Hans-Peter Kofoed-Hansen. The work translated was Two Minor Ethical-Religious Essays (French: En quoi l'homme de génie diffère-t-il de l'apôtre? Traité éthique-religieux).[19]
Subsequent translations of Kierkegaard into French include those produced by Paul Petit, who produced a French translation of the Concluding Unscientific Postscript in 1941, as well as a translation of the Philosophical Fragments, published posthumously in 1947.[19]
In Germany
The earliest mentions of Kierkegaard's work in German publications were written by Andreas Frederik Beck, himself Danish and one of the attendees at Kierkegaard's oral dissertation defence. There was an anonymous German review of Philosophical Fragments published in 1845 which subsequent scholarship believes was written by Beck. Kierkegaard responded to Beck's criticisms in a footnote published in the followup to the Fragments, the Concluding Unscientific Postscript. Another early mention of Kierkegaard in German is from Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, who included Kierkegaard briefly in an 1848 review of European literature.[20]
In 1856, the Bavarian-born conservative politician and historian Joseph Edmund Jörg wrote an article discussing religious movements and events in Scandinavian history. The Catholic Jörg praised Kierkegaard's relentless attack on the Danish Lutheran Church, but suggests that Kierkegaard should perhaps have seen Catholicism as a final step in his religious development.[20]
Early translations of Kierkegaard into German were restricted to his post-1850 material (The Moment, the attack on the Lutheran Church) and appeared in the 1860s. The Tübingen-trained pastor, Albert Bärthold, studied Kierkegaard under Johann Tobias Beck and published translations of a number of Kierkegaard's works.[20]
Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen (1848-1895) recognized Georg Brandes article on Soren Kierkegaard, as well as The Corsair in his March, 1888 article Scandinavian Literature in The Chautauquan. He notes that both Either/Or and Stages on the Path of Life had already been translated into German by that time.[21]
The most significant translation work was conducted by Christoph Schrempf, another student of J.T. Beck. Schrempf's first translations appeared in 1890 and by 1922, he had completed translations of the entire set of Kierkegaard's published writings. His translations have been criticised repeatedly as unreliable: Heiko Schulz referred to them as "repeatedly revised, highly idiosyncratic, and at times breathtakingly free renditions of the Kierkegaardian texts". Schrempf also spread a view of Kierkegaard significantly out-of-step from the mainstream, interpreting Kierkegaard's "subjectivity as truth" as a justification for his own religious disbelief.[20]
Notes
References
- ^ a b Garff, Joakim. Søren Kierkegaard: A Biography. Trans. Bruce H. Kirmmse. Princeton, 2005, 0-691-09165-X
- ^ Weston 1994
- ^ Hampson 2001
- ^ Unamuno refers to Kierkegaard in his book The Tragic Sense of Life, Part IV, "In The Depths of the Abyss"
- ^ a b Creegan 1989
- ^ Popper 2002
- ^ Ostenfeld & McKinnon 1972
- ^ Kierkegaard 2001
- ^ Matustik & Westphal 1995
- ^ See In God's Way, by Bjornson In God's Way. Bjornson names one of his characters Soren Pedersen. Kierkegaard's father's name was Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard.
- ^ Kierkegaard's Influence on Literature, Criticism and Art: The Germanophone World Feb 28, 2013, by Jon Stewart p. xii
- ^ McGee 2006
- ^ Updike 1997
- ^ Matuštík, M. (1995), Kierkegaard in Post/Modernity, Indiana University Press, p. 18.
- ^ Kierkegaard in 2013 Archived 2013-01-31 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Notes on Wittgenstein's Reading of Kierkegaard by Jens Glebe-Moeller.
- ^ Dru 1938, p. 224
- ^ a b c d e f Sipe, Dera; Petti, Edward. "Kierkegaard and Feminism: A Paradoxical Friendship" (PDf). Department of Philosophy Villanova University. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- ^ ISBN 9780754664963.
- ^ ISBN 9780754664963.
- ^ Hjalmer Hjorth Boyesen Scandinavian Literature, The Chautauquan: organ of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. March, 1888 volume 8 Number 6 p. 336-337 V 8 Oct 1887-Jul 1888
Sources
- Creegan, Charles (1989). "Wittgenstein and Kierkegaard". Routledge. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- Dru, Alexander (1938). The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ISBN 9780521604352.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Kierkegaard, Søren (2001). A Literary Review. London: Penguin Classics. ISBN 0140448012.
- McGee, Kyle. "Fear and Trembling in the Penal Colony". Kafka Project. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
- Matustik, Martin Joseph; Westphal, Merold, eds. (1995). Kierkegaard in Post/Modernity. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253209676.
- Ostenfeld, Ib; McKinnon, Alastair (1972). Søren Kierkegaard's Psychology. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurer University Press. ISBN 0889200688.
- ISBN 0-415-29063-5.
- ISBN 0691017379.
- Weston, Michael (1994). Kierkegaard and Modern Continental Philosophy. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-10120-4.