Kierkegaard
An Introduction

This clear, readable introduction to Kierkegaard presents him as a thinker with powerful answers to the questions which philosophers ask.

C. Stephen Evans (Author)

9780521700412, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 9 April 2009

224 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.36 kg

'Walsh's book is a clear, reliable, and erudite guide to a somewhat neglected aspect of Kierkegaard's authorship. It represents a considerable scholarly achievement, and will be essential reading …' The Journal of Religious Studies

C. Stephen Evans provides a clear, readable introduction to Søren Kierkegaard (1813–55) as a philosopher and thinker. His book is organised around Kierkegaard's concept of the three 'stages' or 'spheres' of human existence, which provide both a developmental account of the human self and an understanding of three rival views of human life and its meaning. Evans also discusses such important Kierkegaardian concepts as 'indirect communication', 'truth as subjectivity', and the Incarnation understood as 'the Absolute Paradox'. Although his discussion emphasises the importance of Christianity for understanding Kierkgaard, it shows him to be a writer of great interest to a secular as well as a religious audience. Evans' book brings Kierkegaard into conversation with western philosophers past and present, presenting him as one who gives powerful answers to the questions which philosophers ask.

1. Introduction: Kierkegaard's life and works
2. Pseudonymity and indirect communication
3. The human self: truth and subjectivity
4. The stages of existence: forms of the aesthetic life
5. The ethical life as the quest for selfhood
6. Religious existence: religiousness
7. Christian existence: faith and the paradox
8. Kierkegaard's dual challenge to the contemporary world.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of religion [HRAB], History of Western philosophy [HPC]