Kierkegaard: A Biography

A 2001 biography of Kierkegaard's life and thoughts written by one of the world's preeminent authorities.

Alastair Hannay (Author)

9780521560771, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 August 2001

522 pages, 16 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.3 cm, 0.93 kg

'… rewarding study … Here there is no doubt that his book marks a watershed in English-language Kierkegaard literature …'. Journal of Ecclesiastical History

Written by one of the world's preeminent authorities on Kierkegaard, this 2001 biography was the first to reveal the delicate imbrication of Kierkegaard's life and thought. To grasp the importance and influence of Kierkegaard's thought far beyond his native Denmark, it is necessary to trace the many factors that led this gifted but (according to his headmaster) 'exceedingly childish youth' to grapple with traditional philosophical problems and religious themes in a way that later generations would recognize as amounting to a philosophical revolution. This book offers a powerful narrative account which will be of particular interest to philosophers, literary theorists, intellectual historians, and scholars of religious studies as well as any non-specialist looking for an authoritative guide to the life and work of one of the most original and fascinating figures in Western philosophy.

Preface
Acknowledgements
1. From street to salon: first blood
2. The matter with Søren
3. A Faustian phase
4. The wild geese fly
5. The dead and the living: debut
6. Serious about irony: the dissertation
7. The breach and Berlin: either/or
8. Faith and tragic heroism
9. More to being
10. Notabene's meditation
11. Completing the stages
12. Concluding business
13. Reviewing the age
14. Refashioning the exterior
15. Works of love
16. Defining the deed
17. Mischievous martyr
18. 'Poor Kierkegaard
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Religion & beliefs [HR], Philosophy [HP]