Michelle Kosch
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199289110
- eISBN:
- 9780191604003
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199289115.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This book traces a complex of issues surrounding moral agency from Kant through Schelling to Kierkegaard. There are two complementary projects. The first is to clarify the contours of German idealism ...
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This book traces a complex of issues surrounding moral agency from Kant through Schelling to Kierkegaard. There are two complementary projects. The first is to clarify the contours of German idealism as a philosophical movement by examining the motivations not only of its beginning, but also of its end. In tracing the motivations for the transition to mid-19th century post-idealism to Schelling’s middle and late periods and, ultimately, back to a problem originally presented in Kant, it shows the causes of the demise of that movement to be the same as the causes of its rise. In the process, it presents the most detailed discussion to date of the moral psychology and moral epistemology of Schelling’s work after 1809. The second project — which is simply the first viewed from a different angle — is to trace the sources of Kierkegaard’s theory of agency and his criticism of philosophical ethics to this same complex of issues in Kant and post-Kantian idealism. In the process, it is argued that Schelling’s influence on Kierkegaard was greater than has been thought, and builds a new understanding of Kierkegaard’s project in his pseudonymous works on the basis of this revised picture of their historical background.Less
This book traces a complex of issues surrounding moral agency from Kant through Schelling to Kierkegaard. There are two complementary projects. The first is to clarify the contours of German idealism as a philosophical movement by examining the motivations not only of its beginning, but also of its end. In tracing the motivations for the transition to mid-19th century post-idealism to Schelling’s middle and late periods and, ultimately, back to a problem originally presented in Kant, it shows the causes of the demise of that movement to be the same as the causes of its rise. In the process, it presents the most detailed discussion to date of the moral psychology and moral epistemology of Schelling’s work after 1809. The second project — which is simply the first viewed from a different angle — is to trace the sources of Kierkegaard’s theory of agency and his criticism of philosophical ethics to this same complex of issues in Kant and post-Kantian idealism. In the process, it is argued that Schelling’s influence on Kierkegaard was greater than has been thought, and builds a new understanding of Kierkegaard’s project in his pseudonymous works on the basis of this revised picture of their historical background.
Charles K. Bellinger
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195134988
- eISBN:
- 9780199833986
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195134982.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
In the twentieth century, many thinkers have put forward theories that purport to explain the motivations underlying the violent behavior of human beings. This book presents Kierkegaard's thought as ...
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In the twentieth century, many thinkers have put forward theories that purport to explain the motivations underlying the violent behavior of human beings. This book presents Kierkegaard's thought as offering a way of interpreting violent behavior that is superior to the alternatives. The basic elements of Kierkegaard's psychology are drawn out of his published and unpublished works, concentrating on The Concept of Anxiety, Works of Love, and The Sickness unto Death. Violence, most fundamentally, arises out of human resistance to the possibility of psychological change and growth into maturity. Violence toward others seeks to fend off that potential for otherness within oneself that is entailed by the incompleteness of creation. Kierkegaard's theory of violence is compared and contrasted with Rene Girard's theory, and both thinkers are brought into conversation with Karl Barth and Eric Voegelin. Anabaptism's approach to interpreting the history of Christian violence is taken into consideration. Hitler and Stalin, as key contemporary examples of demonic violence, are analyzed in connection with Kierkegaard's aesthetic and ethical spheres of existence. The book closes with reflections on the Christian doctrine of atonement in light of the preceding discussion of the roots of human evil.Less
In the twentieth century, many thinkers have put forward theories that purport to explain the motivations underlying the violent behavior of human beings. This book presents Kierkegaard's thought as offering a way of interpreting violent behavior that is superior to the alternatives. The basic elements of Kierkegaard's psychology are drawn out of his published and unpublished works, concentrating on The Concept of Anxiety, Works of Love, and The Sickness unto Death. Violence, most fundamentally, arises out of human resistance to the possibility of psychological change and growth into maturity. Violence toward others seeks to fend off that potential for otherness within oneself that is entailed by the incompleteness of creation. Kierkegaard's theory of violence is compared and contrasted with Rene Girard's theory, and both thinkers are brought into conversation with Karl Barth and Eric Voegelin. Anabaptism's approach to interpreting the history of Christian violence is taken into consideration. Hitler and Stalin, as key contemporary examples of demonic violence, are analyzed in connection with Kierkegaard's aesthetic and ethical spheres of existence. The book closes with reflections on the Christian doctrine of atonement in light of the preceding discussion of the roots of human evil.
Genia Schönbaumsfeld
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199229826
- eISBN:
- 9780191710766
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199229826.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
Cursory allusions to the relation between Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein are common in philosophical literature, but there has been little in the way of serious and comprehensive commentary on the ...
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Cursory allusions to the relation between Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein are common in philosophical literature, but there has been little in the way of serious and comprehensive commentary on the relationship between their ideas. This book attempts both to close this gap and to offer important independent readings of Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's conceptions of philosophy and religious belief. Chapter 1 carefully documents Kierkegaard's influence on Wittgenstein, while Chapters 2 and 3 provide trenchant criticisms of two prominent attempts that have been made to compare the two thinkers — those of D. Z. Phillips and James Conant. Chapter 4 develops Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's concerted criticisms of certain standard conception of religious belief, and defends their own positive conception against the common charges of ‘fideism’ and ‘irrationalism’. As well as contributing to the contemporary debate about how to read Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's work, this book addresses issues of central concern not only to scholars of Wittgenstein and Kierkegaard, but to anyone interested in issues surrounding the philosophy of religion, or the ethical aspects of philosophical practice as such.Less
Cursory allusions to the relation between Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein are common in philosophical literature, but there has been little in the way of serious and comprehensive commentary on the relationship between their ideas. This book attempts both to close this gap and to offer important independent readings of Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's conceptions of philosophy and religious belief. Chapter 1 carefully documents Kierkegaard's influence on Wittgenstein, while Chapters 2 and 3 provide trenchant criticisms of two prominent attempts that have been made to compare the two thinkers — those of D. Z. Phillips and James Conant. Chapter 4 develops Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's concerted criticisms of certain standard conception of religious belief, and defends their own positive conception against the common charges of ‘fideism’ and ‘irrationalism’. As well as contributing to the contemporary debate about how to read Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's work, this book addresses issues of central concern not only to scholars of Wittgenstein and Kierkegaard, but to anyone interested in issues surrounding the philosophy of religion, or the ethical aspects of philosophical practice as such.
Genia Schönbaumsfeld
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199229826
- eISBN:
- 9780191710766
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199229826.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
This final chapter sums up the main arguments of the book. It's aims have been to trace the parallels in Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's conception of philosophy and examine the affinities in their ...
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This final chapter sums up the main arguments of the book. It's aims have been to trace the parallels in Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's conception of philosophy and examine the affinities in their thought about religious belief. The book has attempted to undermine some of the more tenacious myths surrounding Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's religious thought and to show that the two authors — especially when read in the light of each other — still present the greatest challenge to the received orthodoxies in the philosophy of religion as well as to the subject's (philosophy's) own conception of itself.Less
This final chapter sums up the main arguments of the book. It's aims have been to trace the parallels in Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's conception of philosophy and examine the affinities in their thought about religious belief. The book has attempted to undermine some of the more tenacious myths surrounding Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's religious thought and to show that the two authors — especially when read in the light of each other — still present the greatest challenge to the received orthodoxies in the philosophy of religion as well as to the subject's (philosophy's) own conception of itself.
Jason A. Mahn
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199790661
- eISBN:
- 9780199897391
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199790661.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This book deconstructs and reconstructs the fortunate Fall (felix culpa) theme of Western thought, using Kierkegaard as a guide. Dating back to the fifth century Easter Eve Mass, the claim that ...
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This book deconstructs and reconstructs the fortunate Fall (felix culpa) theme of Western thought, using Kierkegaard as a guide. Dating back to the fifth century Easter Eve Mass, the claim that Adam's Fall might be considered “fortunate” in light of a resultant good has become Christianity's most controversial and unwieldy idea. Whereas the phrase originally praised sin as a backhanded witness to the ineffability of redemption, modern speculative theodicy came to understand all evil as comprehensible, historically productive, and therefore fortunate, while the Romantic poets celebrated transgression for bolstering individual creativity and spiritedness. This book traces Kierkegaard's blunt critique of Idealism's justification of evil, as well as his playful deconstruction of Romantic celebrations of sin. The book argues, however, that Kierkegaard also resists the moralization of evil, preferring to consider temptation and sin as determinative dimensions of religious existence. At least in relation to the assumed “innocence” of Christendom's cultured Christians, the self-conscious sinner might be the better religious witness. Although the book shows how Kierkegaard finally replaces actual sin with human fragility, temptation, and the possibility of spiritual offense as that which “happily” shapes religious faith, it also argues that his understanding of “fortunate fallibility” is at least as rhetorically compelling and theologically operative as talk of a “fortunate Fall.” Together, Kierkegaard's playful maneuvers and this book's thematizations carve rhetorical space for Christian theologians to speak of sin in ways that are more particular and peculiar than the typical discourses of Church and culture.Less
This book deconstructs and reconstructs the fortunate Fall (felix culpa) theme of Western thought, using Kierkegaard as a guide. Dating back to the fifth century Easter Eve Mass, the claim that Adam's Fall might be considered “fortunate” in light of a resultant good has become Christianity's most controversial and unwieldy idea. Whereas the phrase originally praised sin as a backhanded witness to the ineffability of redemption, modern speculative theodicy came to understand all evil as comprehensible, historically productive, and therefore fortunate, while the Romantic poets celebrated transgression for bolstering individual creativity and spiritedness. This book traces Kierkegaard's blunt critique of Idealism's justification of evil, as well as his playful deconstruction of Romantic celebrations of sin. The book argues, however, that Kierkegaard also resists the moralization of evil, preferring to consider temptation and sin as determinative dimensions of religious existence. At least in relation to the assumed “innocence” of Christendom's cultured Christians, the self-conscious sinner might be the better religious witness. Although the book shows how Kierkegaard finally replaces actual sin with human fragility, temptation, and the possibility of spiritual offense as that which “happily” shapes religious faith, it also argues that his understanding of “fortunate fallibility” is at least as rhetorically compelling and theologically operative as talk of a “fortunate Fall.” Together, Kierkegaard's playful maneuvers and this book's thematizations carve rhetorical space for Christian theologians to speak of sin in ways that are more particular and peculiar than the typical discourses of Church and culture.
Stephen Backhouse
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199604722
- eISBN:
- 9780191729324
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604722.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society, Philosophy of Religion
The book draws out the critique of Christian nationalism that is implicit throughout the thought of Søren Kierkegaard, an analysis that is inseparable from his wider aim of reintroducing Christianity ...
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The book draws out the critique of Christian nationalism that is implicit throughout the thought of Søren Kierkegaard, an analysis that is inseparable from his wider aim of reintroducing Christianity into Christendom. ‘Christian nationalism’ refers to the set of ideas in which belief in the development and superiority of one's national group is combined with, or underwritten by, Christian theology and practice. The book examines the nationalist theologies of H. L. Martensen and N. F. S. Grundtvig, important cultural leaders and contemporaries of Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard's response to their thought forms the backbone of his own philosophical and theological project, namely his attempt to form authentic Christian individuals through the use of ‘the moment’, ‘the leap’ and ‘contemporaneity’. This Kierkegaardian critique is brought into conversation with current political science theories of religious nationalism, and is expanded to address movements and theologies beyond the historical context of Kierkegaard's Golden Age Denmark. The implications of Kierkegaard's approach are undoubtedly radical and unsettling to politicians and church leaders alike, yet there is much to commend it to the reality of modern religious and social life. As a theological thinker keenly aware of the unique problems posed by Christendom, Kierkegaard's critique is timely for any Christian culture that is tempted to confuse its faith with patriotism or national affiliation.Less
The book draws out the critique of Christian nationalism that is implicit throughout the thought of Søren Kierkegaard, an analysis that is inseparable from his wider aim of reintroducing Christianity into Christendom. ‘Christian nationalism’ refers to the set of ideas in which belief in the development and superiority of one's national group is combined with, or underwritten by, Christian theology and practice. The book examines the nationalist theologies of H. L. Martensen and N. F. S. Grundtvig, important cultural leaders and contemporaries of Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard's response to their thought forms the backbone of his own philosophical and theological project, namely his attempt to form authentic Christian individuals through the use of ‘the moment’, ‘the leap’ and ‘contemporaneity’. This Kierkegaardian critique is brought into conversation with current political science theories of religious nationalism, and is expanded to address movements and theologies beyond the historical context of Kierkegaard's Golden Age Denmark. The implications of Kierkegaard's approach are undoubtedly radical and unsettling to politicians and church leaders alike, yet there is much to commend it to the reality of modern religious and social life. As a theological thinker keenly aware of the unique problems posed by Christendom, Kierkegaard's critique is timely for any Christian culture that is tempted to confuse its faith with patriotism or national affiliation.
Anthony Rudd
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198752189
- eISBN:
- 9780191695063
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198752189.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book introduces, explains, and discusses some of Søren Kierkegaard's central ideas, showing their relevance to current debates in ethics, epistemology, and the philosophy of religion. The book ...
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This book introduces, explains, and discusses some of Søren Kierkegaard's central ideas, showing their relevance to current debates in ethics, epistemology, and the philosophy of religion. The book uses these ideas to illuminate questions about the foundations of morality and the nature of personal identity, as discussed by analytical philosophers such as Alasdair MacIntyre, Derek Parfit, Bernard Williams, and Philippa Foot. This book offers a way forward from the sterile conflict between the view that morality and religion are based on objective reasoning and the view that they are merely expressions of subjective emotions. It argues that morality and religion must be understood in terms of the individual's search for a sense of meaning in his world, but emphasises that this does not imply that values are arbitrary or merely subjective.Less
This book introduces, explains, and discusses some of Søren Kierkegaard's central ideas, showing their relevance to current debates in ethics, epistemology, and the philosophy of religion. The book uses these ideas to illuminate questions about the foundations of morality and the nature of personal identity, as discussed by analytical philosophers such as Alasdair MacIntyre, Derek Parfit, Bernard Williams, and Philippa Foot. This book offers a way forward from the sterile conflict between the view that morality and religion are based on objective reasoning and the view that they are merely expressions of subjective emotions. It argues that morality and religion must be understood in terms of the individual's search for a sense of meaning in his world, but emphasises that this does not imply that values are arbitrary or merely subjective.
David R. Law
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263364
- eISBN:
- 9780191682506
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263364.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book is concerned with Kierkegaard's ‘apophaticism’, i.e. with those elements of Kierkegaard's thought that emphasize the incapacity of human reason and the hiddenness of God. Apophaticism is an ...
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This book is concerned with Kierkegaard's ‘apophaticism’, i.e. with those elements of Kierkegaard's thought that emphasize the incapacity of human reason and the hiddenness of God. Apophaticism is an important underlying strand in Kierkegaard's thought and colours many of his key concepts. Despite its importance, however, it has until now been largely ignored by Kierkegaardian scholarship. The book argues that apophatic elements can be detected in every aspect of Kierkegaard's thought and that, despite proceeding from different presuppositions, he can therefore be regarded as a negative theologian. Indeed, the book concludes by arguing that Kierkegaard's refusal to make the transition from the via negative to the via mystica means that he is more apophatic than the negative theologians themselves.Less
This book is concerned with Kierkegaard's ‘apophaticism’, i.e. with those elements of Kierkegaard's thought that emphasize the incapacity of human reason and the hiddenness of God. Apophaticism is an important underlying strand in Kierkegaard's thought and colours many of his key concepts. Despite its importance, however, it has until now been largely ignored by Kierkegaardian scholarship. The book argues that apophatic elements can be detected in every aspect of Kierkegaard's thought and that, despite proceeding from different presuppositions, he can therefore be regarded as a negative theologian. Indeed, the book concludes by arguing that Kierkegaard's refusal to make the transition from the via negative to the via mystica means that he is more apophatic than the negative theologians themselves.
Sylvia Walsh
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199208357
- eISBN:
- 9780191695728
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199208357.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, History of Christianity
Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was first and foremost a Christian thinker who is perhaps best known for his devastating attack upon Christendom or the established order of his time. Not since Luther ...
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Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was first and foremost a Christian thinker who is perhaps best known for his devastating attack upon Christendom or the established order of his time. Not since Luther has there been a Protestant thinker who has so uncompromisingly sought to define and present Christianity in its utmost integrity. Characterizing Christianity as an ‘existence-communication’ rather than a doctrine, Kierkegaard sought to portray what it means to be a Christian in the strictest sense in the interest of reintroducing authentic Christianity as an existential possibility for every individual in the modern age. This book explores Kierkegaard's understanding of Christianity and the existential mode of thinking theologically appropriate to it in the context of the intellectual, cultural, and socio-political milieu of his time. The author contrasts his approach with objective ways of doing theology, which in his view falsify Christianity and the believer's relation to it. The study begins with a biographical overview of the personal and intellectual influences, theological upbringing, important events, and phases of authorship in Kierkegaard's life. The author highlights some of his most important contributions to Christian thought concerning the Christian understanding of God, and our human condition in anxiety, sin, and despair.Less
Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was first and foremost a Christian thinker who is perhaps best known for his devastating attack upon Christendom or the established order of his time. Not since Luther has there been a Protestant thinker who has so uncompromisingly sought to define and present Christianity in its utmost integrity. Characterizing Christianity as an ‘existence-communication’ rather than a doctrine, Kierkegaard sought to portray what it means to be a Christian in the strictest sense in the interest of reintroducing authentic Christianity as an existential possibility for every individual in the modern age. This book explores Kierkegaard's understanding of Christianity and the existential mode of thinking theologically appropriate to it in the context of the intellectual, cultural, and socio-political milieu of his time. The author contrasts his approach with objective ways of doing theology, which in his view falsify Christianity and the believer's relation to it. The study begins with a biographical overview of the personal and intellectual influences, theological upbringing, important events, and phases of authorship in Kierkegaard's life. The author highlights some of his most important contributions to Christian thought concerning the Christian understanding of God, and our human condition in anxiety, sin, and despair.
Michelle Kosch
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199289110
- eISBN:
- 9780191604003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199289115.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter examines Kierkegaard’s critical accounts of aesthetic and ethical stages of existence, arguing that on Kierkegaard’s view, both life-views incorporate distorted accounts of human agency. ...
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This chapter examines Kierkegaard’s critical accounts of aesthetic and ethical stages of existence, arguing that on Kierkegaard’s view, both life-views incorporate distorted accounts of human agency. The criticism of the ethical stage is tied to the criticism of Kant’s approach to freedom for evil examined in chapters 2 and 4.Less
This chapter examines Kierkegaard’s critical accounts of aesthetic and ethical stages of existence, arguing that on Kierkegaard’s view, both life-views incorporate distorted accounts of human agency. The criticism of the ethical stage is tied to the criticism of Kant’s approach to freedom for evil examined in chapters 2 and 4.
Michelle Kosch
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199289110
- eISBN:
- 9780191604003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199289115.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter outlines Kierkegaard’s account of Christian belief and the foundations of Christian ethics, and his positive account of moral agency.
This chapter outlines Kierkegaard’s account of Christian belief and the foundations of Christian ethics, and his positive account of moral agency.
Anthony Rudd
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198752189
- eISBN:
- 9780191695063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198752189.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
The book has now followed Søren Kierkegaard's account of the progress through the stages of life. It has also discussed and endorsed its polemic against objectivism. The book is hoping that it has ...
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The book has now followed Søren Kierkegaard's account of the progress through the stages of life. It has also discussed and endorsed its polemic against objectivism. The book is hoping that it has presented clearly that this does not involve a defence of arbitrariness or of the invention of values by each individual and is believing that Kierkegaard has shown his readers a way out of the sterile conflict between this subjectivism and pseudo-scientific objectivism. The book has also followed the argument for ethics and concluded that there is good reason for making particular commitments and for developing relevant virtues. This book overall has been one of criticism and clarification. Ultimately, however, it is only each individual's felt need for meaning that can determine the choices and commitments that he or she will make.Less
The book has now followed Søren Kierkegaard's account of the progress through the stages of life. It has also discussed and endorsed its polemic against objectivism. The book is hoping that it has presented clearly that this does not involve a defence of arbitrariness or of the invention of values by each individual and is believing that Kierkegaard has shown his readers a way out of the sterile conflict between this subjectivism and pseudo-scientific objectivism. The book has also followed the argument for ethics and concluded that there is good reason for making particular commitments and for developing relevant virtues. This book overall has been one of criticism and clarification. Ultimately, however, it is only each individual's felt need for meaning that can determine the choices and commitments that he or she will make.
Anthony Rudd
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199660049
- eISBN:
- 9780191744976
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199660049.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Moral Philosophy
This book defends an account of the self it calls the NEST (Narrative, Evaluative, Self-Constitutive, Teleological) theory. It argues that the self, rather than being a wholly given entity, at least ...
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This book defends an account of the self it calls the NEST (Narrative, Evaluative, Self-Constitutive, Teleological) theory. It argues that the self, rather than being a wholly given entity, at least in part ‘constitutes’ or shapes itself, and does this by endorsing some desires or dispositions and repudiating others. As it is therefore inherently a self-evaluating being it must view itself teleologically, as standing in relation to a standard of value, which it must conceive as having objective authority. Furthermore, as a temporal self-evaluating agent, it must understand itself in narrative terms, though this does not mean that it has complete authorial mastery over its own narrative. Versions of some or all of these ideas have been developed by various influential writers (including Frankfurt, Korsgaard, MacIntyre, Ricoeur, and Taylor) but, while drawing extensively on them and replying to some of their critics, this book develops a version of NEST that is importantly different from others familiar in the literature. It takes its main inspiration from Kierkegaard’s account of the self, which it (controversially) argues belongs in the Platonic rather than the Aristotelian tradition of teleological thinking. So the book makes a case, through close engagement with much contemporary philosophical work, for an ancient and currently unfashionable view; that the polarities and tensions that are constitutive of selfhood can only be reconciled through an orientation of the self as a whole to an objective Good.Less
This book defends an account of the self it calls the NEST (Narrative, Evaluative, Self-Constitutive, Teleological) theory. It argues that the self, rather than being a wholly given entity, at least in part ‘constitutes’ or shapes itself, and does this by endorsing some desires or dispositions and repudiating others. As it is therefore inherently a self-evaluating being it must view itself teleologically, as standing in relation to a standard of value, which it must conceive as having objective authority. Furthermore, as a temporal self-evaluating agent, it must understand itself in narrative terms, though this does not mean that it has complete authorial mastery over its own narrative. Versions of some or all of these ideas have been developed by various influential writers (including Frankfurt, Korsgaard, MacIntyre, Ricoeur, and Taylor) but, while drawing extensively on them and replying to some of their critics, this book develops a version of NEST that is importantly different from others familiar in the literature. It takes its main inspiration from Kierkegaard’s account of the self, which it (controversially) argues belongs in the Platonic rather than the Aristotelian tradition of teleological thinking. So the book makes a case, through close engagement with much contemporary philosophical work, for an ancient and currently unfashionable view; that the polarities and tensions that are constitutive of selfhood can only be reconciled through an orientation of the self as a whole to an objective Good.
T.L.S. Sprigge
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199283040
- eISBN:
- 9780191603662
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199283044.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter discusses the position presented by Kierkegaard in his two related works: Philosophical Fragments and Concluding Unscientific Postscript, which were published under the pseudonym, ...
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This chapter discusses the position presented by Kierkegaard in his two related works: Philosophical Fragments and Concluding Unscientific Postscript, which were published under the pseudonym, Johannes Climacus. It is shown that in Fragments, Climacus merely tried out the idea of God incarnating himself to achieve mutual love with men in spite of their fallen state, but did not specify Christianity as proclaiming the realization of this idea. In Concluding Unscientific Postscript, the focus is more explicitly on Christianity. Kierkegaard’s most thorough discussion of ethics, Works of Love, is also examined, which emphasizes the need for Christians to grow out of worldly self-love and embrace a life of suffering.Less
This chapter discusses the position presented by Kierkegaard in his two related works: Philosophical Fragments and Concluding Unscientific Postscript, which were published under the pseudonym, Johannes Climacus. It is shown that in Fragments, Climacus merely tried out the idea of God incarnating himself to achieve mutual love with men in spite of their fallen state, but did not specify Christianity as proclaiming the realization of this idea. In Concluding Unscientific Postscript, the focus is more explicitly on Christianity. Kierkegaard’s most thorough discussion of ethics, Works of Love, is also examined, which emphasizes the need for Christians to grow out of worldly self-love and embrace a life of suffering.
John Bishop
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199205547
- eISBN:
- 9780191709432
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199205547.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter deals with two versions of the objection that Jamesian fideism is too liberal. In response to the first — that it is arbitrary to permit supra-evidential yet reject irrational, ...
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This chapter deals with two versions of the objection that Jamesian fideism is too liberal. In response to the first — that it is arbitrary to permit supra-evidential yet reject irrational, counter-evidential, faith-ventures — it is argued that a defensible fideism must insist that faith-ventures be made with epistemic entitlement (i.e., through the right exercise of epistemic rationality). ‘Ethical suspension of the epistemic’, while not absolutely excluded, does not apply to religious faith-ventures. To meet the second objection — that fideism may endorse obviously morally objectionable faith-ventures — a further integrationist condition is added: both the content and the motivational character of a permissible faith-venture should cohere with correct morality. The chapter concludes by following Kierkegaard's example with a reflection on Abraham and Isaac, to illustrate how theistic faith-ventures should develop in tandem with evolving moral commitments.Less
This chapter deals with two versions of the objection that Jamesian fideism is too liberal. In response to the first — that it is arbitrary to permit supra-evidential yet reject irrational, counter-evidential, faith-ventures — it is argued that a defensible fideism must insist that faith-ventures be made with epistemic entitlement (i.e., through the right exercise of epistemic rationality). ‘Ethical suspension of the epistemic’, while not absolutely excluded, does not apply to religious faith-ventures. To meet the second objection — that fideism may endorse obviously morally objectionable faith-ventures — a further integrationist condition is added: both the content and the motivational character of a permissible faith-venture should cohere with correct morality. The chapter concludes by following Kierkegaard's example with a reflection on Abraham and Isaac, to illustrate how theistic faith-ventures should develop in tandem with evolving moral commitments.
Michael Patrick Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195333527
- eISBN:
- 9780199868896
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195333527.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Chapter 5 presents a reading of David Lodge's novel Therapy (1995) in light of Balthasar's Theo‐logic. Lodge does well to illustrate that the erasure of God that preoccupies postmodern consciousness ...
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Chapter 5 presents a reading of David Lodge's novel Therapy (1995) in light of Balthasar's Theo‐logic. Lodge does well to illustrate that the erasure of God that preoccupies postmodern consciousness significantly affects contemporary conceptions about “subject formation” and “people in relation.” Lodge develops these themes by constructing a narrative that mirrors both the theological trajectory of Balthasar's tripartite program and the existential progression identified by the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard—namely, the aesthetic, ethical, and religious “stages” of human experience. Importantly, a close consideration of Kierkegaard's stages reveals a direct analogy with the transcendentals, which, in turn, illuminates one of the many reasons why Balthasar admired Kierkegaard and why Lodge's novel is a fertile literary example of Balthasar's Theologic. By a close consideration of the triadic structure of being presented by a variety of sources, the chapter begins to discern how God's logic—how human logic—exists in a trinitarian dynamic.Less
Chapter 5 presents a reading of David Lodge's novel Therapy (1995) in light of Balthasar's Theo‐logic. Lodge does well to illustrate that the erasure of God that preoccupies postmodern consciousness significantly affects contemporary conceptions about “subject formation” and “people in relation.” Lodge develops these themes by constructing a narrative that mirrors both the theological trajectory of Balthasar's tripartite program and the existential progression identified by the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard—namely, the aesthetic, ethical, and religious “stages” of human experience. Importantly, a close consideration of Kierkegaard's stages reveals a direct analogy with the transcendentals, which, in turn, illuminates one of the many reasons why Balthasar admired Kierkegaard and why Lodge's novel is a fertile literary example of Balthasar's Theologic. By a close consideration of the triadic structure of being presented by a variety of sources, the chapter begins to discern how God's logic—how human logic—exists in a trinitarian dynamic.
Richard Swinburne
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199283927
- eISBN:
- 9780191712524
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283927.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
There is an obligation to seek true beliefs on religious matters both in order to discover whether we have other obligations (e.g., to worship and serve God), and in order to teach the truth about ...
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There is an obligation to seek true beliefs on religious matters both in order to discover whether we have other obligations (e.g., to worship and serve God), and in order to teach the truth about religion to those whom we have an obligation to educate. It is also good (though not obligatory) to seek such true belief both for its own sake, and in order to discover how to attain deep and lasting well-being, that is salvation. However, we should seek to acquire only those beliefs about religion which adequate investigation shows to be probable, and (barring special circumstances) not attempt to induce religious beliefs by irrational means. There is a majority Christian tradition that good arguments for the existence of God are available for those who need them. The idea of rational belief has been considered in depth by Anslem, Aquinas, Barth, Clifford, Kierkegaard, and Pascal.Less
There is an obligation to seek true beliefs on religious matters both in order to discover whether we have other obligations (e.g., to worship and serve God), and in order to teach the truth about religion to those whom we have an obligation to educate. It is also good (though not obligatory) to seek such true belief both for its own sake, and in order to discover how to attain deep and lasting well-being, that is salvation. However, we should seek to acquire only those beliefs about religion which adequate investigation shows to be probable, and (barring special circumstances) not attempt to induce religious beliefs by irrational means. There is a majority Christian tradition that good arguments for the existence of God are available for those who need them. The idea of rational belief has been considered in depth by Anslem, Aquinas, Barth, Clifford, Kierkegaard, and Pascal.
Richard Swinburne
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199283927
- eISBN:
- 9780191712524
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283927.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter analyses three different accounts of faith. On Aquinas's account faith is simply belief, though for Aquinas the religious virtue is not faith in itself, but ‘faith formed by charity’. ...
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This chapter analyses three different accounts of faith. On Aquinas's account faith is simply belief, though for Aquinas the religious virtue is not faith in itself, but ‘faith formed by charity’. For Luther faith is trust, and for a pragmatist (e.g., William James), it is acting on an assumption. On all these accounts, faith involves a belief and a readiness to pursue religious goals in the light of that belief; but they differ according to the kind of belief required. For the pragmatist all that is required is the belief that we are more likely to achieve the goals of religion if the creed of our religion is true than if some creed of another religion or no religion is true.Less
This chapter analyses three different accounts of faith. On Aquinas's account faith is simply belief, though for Aquinas the religious virtue is not faith in itself, but ‘faith formed by charity’. For Luther faith is trust, and for a pragmatist (e.g., William James), it is acting on an assumption. On all these accounts, faith involves a belief and a readiness to pursue religious goals in the light of that belief; but they differ according to the kind of belief required. For the pragmatist all that is required is the belief that we are more likely to achieve the goals of religion if the creed of our religion is true than if some creed of another religion or no religion is true.
Karl Ameriks
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199205349
- eISBN:
- 9780191709272
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199205349.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter explores the impact of Hegel's work in relation to three influential successors — Feuerbach, Marx, and Kierkegaard — who accept much of his general story of the stages of the history of ...
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This chapter explores the impact of Hegel's work in relation to three influential successors — Feuerbach, Marx, and Kierkegaard — who accept much of his general story of the stages of the history of philosophy but believe, for different reasons, that it has an all too idealistic shape. Feuerbach feels a need to stress the importance of sensory experience, and he goes into much more psychological detail than Hegel in explaining the structures of the phenomenon of unhappy consciousness, that is, alienated religiosity, especially in dogmatic Christianity. Hegel's and Feuerbach's notion of alienation is thematized by Marx in terms of the concrete economic (capitalist) phenomenon of forfeiting our ‘species being’, that is, our capacity for acts of unfettered production for the sake of humanity as a whole. Kierkegaard seems implicitly willing to accept much of the historical and teleological story that Hegel has to tell about traditional philosophy as such, but he is most interested in something that this story leaves out: the concern with individual freedom and the possibility of a relationship to a personal God that dominates traditional Christianity and the work of figures such as Kant, Hamann, Jacobi, and the later Schelling (whose final lectures Kierkegaard briefly attended in Berlin).Less
This chapter explores the impact of Hegel's work in relation to three influential successors — Feuerbach, Marx, and Kierkegaard — who accept much of his general story of the stages of the history of philosophy but believe, for different reasons, that it has an all too idealistic shape. Feuerbach feels a need to stress the importance of sensory experience, and he goes into much more psychological detail than Hegel in explaining the structures of the phenomenon of unhappy consciousness, that is, alienated religiosity, especially in dogmatic Christianity. Hegel's and Feuerbach's notion of alienation is thematized by Marx in terms of the concrete economic (capitalist) phenomenon of forfeiting our ‘species being’, that is, our capacity for acts of unfettered production for the sake of humanity as a whole. Kierkegaard seems implicitly willing to accept much of the historical and teleological story that Hegel has to tell about traditional philosophy as such, but he is most interested in something that this story leaves out: the concern with individual freedom and the possibility of a relationship to a personal God that dominates traditional Christianity and the work of figures such as Kant, Hamann, Jacobi, and the later Schelling (whose final lectures Kierkegaard briefly attended in Berlin).
Derek B. Scott
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195151961
- eISBN:
- 9780199870394
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195151961.003.0007
- Subject:
- Music, Theory, Analysis, Composition
This chapter presents a typology of the demonic in the music of Liszt, and seeks to answer the questions: what impact did his representations of the demonic have on his stylistic development as a ...
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This chapter presents a typology of the demonic in the music of Liszt, and seeks to answer the questions: what impact did his representations of the demonic have on his stylistic development as a composer? Do demonic elements appear even where Liszt has not chosen to indicate their presence by title? Liszt plays an important part in establishing particular demonic genres, such as the danse macabre and the demonic scherzo. He bequeathed a fertile legacy to the likes of Saint-Saëns, Dvorak, Mussorgsky, and others. The primary demonic technique for Liszt is that of negation: negation of the beautiful, the noble, the graceful, and so forth. The secondary technique is parody, though qualities are often negated and parodied (or mocked) at the same time. Liszt's strategies are discussed in the context of ideas of the demonic in the work of Goethe and Kierkegaard.Less
This chapter presents a typology of the demonic in the music of Liszt, and seeks to answer the questions: what impact did his representations of the demonic have on his stylistic development as a composer? Do demonic elements appear even where Liszt has not chosen to indicate their presence by title? Liszt plays an important part in establishing particular demonic genres, such as the danse macabre and the demonic scherzo. He bequeathed a fertile legacy to the likes of Saint-Saëns, Dvorak, Mussorgsky, and others. The primary demonic technique for Liszt is that of negation: negation of the beautiful, the noble, the graceful, and so forth. The secondary technique is parody, though qualities are often negated and parodied (or mocked) at the same time. Liszt's strategies are discussed in the context of ideas of the demonic in the work of Goethe and Kierkegaard.
