Kierkegaard and the Problem of Self-Love

This book develops a Kierkegaard-inspired account of proper self-love which accommodates trust, hope, and forgiveness of self and others.

John Lippitt (Author)

9781107035614, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 April 2013

222 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.47 kg

'… offers a detailed examination of Kierkegaard on self-love … The book is lucid, well organized, and carefully attentive to the relevant contemporary literature. It will be an excellent acquisition for all libraries supporting work on Kierkegaard, the nature of love, or the philosophy of religion … Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above.' Choice

The problem of whether we should love ourselves - and if so how - has particular resonance within Christian thought and is an important yet underinvestigated theme in the writings of Søren Kierkegaard. In Works of Love, Kierkegaard argues that the friendships and romantic relationships which we typically treasure most are often merely disguised forms of 'selfish' self-love. Yet in this nuanced and subtle account, John Lippitt shows that Kierkegaard also provides valuable resources for responding to the challenge of how we can love ourselves, as well as others. Lippitt relates what it means to love oneself properly to such topics as love of God and neighbour, friendship, romantic love, self-denial and self-sacrifice, trust, hope and forgiveness. The book engages in detail with Works of Love, related Kierkegaard texts and important recent studies, and also addresses a wealth of wider literature in ethics, moral psychology and philosophy of religion.

1. Introduction: how should I love myself?
2. Cracking the mirror: friendship and the problem of self-love
3. Self-love in Works of Love: explicit references
4. The problem of special relationships: self-love's wider context
5. Another take on self-love: an excursus on Harry Frankfurt
6. Love's blank cheques: on self-denial and its limitations
7. Towards a more positive account of self-love, I: trust and hope
8. Towards a more positive account of self-love, II: self-forgiveness and self-respect
9. An immodest proposal: a coda on rehabilitating pride
10. Summary and conclusion.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], Theology [HRLB], Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD]