420 - Kierkegaard Today

Kierkegaard Today
By Mark C. Taylor

FEW AUTHORS have influenced twentieth century thought more than the Danish philosopher-theologian Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). Largely ignored in his own day, Kierkegaard's writings surfaced during the early decades of this century to become a dominant intellectual force in areas as diverse as philosophy, psychology, literature, and art. Nowhere is Kierkegaard's impact more evident than in the field of theology. When Karl Barth sounded his epoch-making "Nein!" in The Epistle to the Romans (1918), Kierkegaard's voice was sounding in the not-too-distant background. Though Barth was less inclined to draw on Kierkegaard's insight after his decisive shift in 1930, Kierkegaard continued to guide theological reflection indirectly through the work of Rudolph Bultmann, Bultmann constructed his version of neo-orthodoxy upon the foundation of Martin Heidegger's creative reinterpretation of tenets initially advanced by Kierkegaard. With the gradual translation of Kierkegaard's writings into English, his work has gained a larger audience, and his influence in this country has grown proportionately. As the continued flow of Kierkegaard literature demonstrates, the preoccupation with his thought shows no sign of diminishing.

I

Why this fascination with Kierkegaard? What is it about his work that makes it significant for so many people? There is, of course, no simple answer to this question. An author whose writings are as diverse as those of Kierkegaard speaks in many different voices to readers who, more often than not, are able to hear only a single note in what actually is a complex composition. It would appear that precisely this complexity, this multi-dimensionality is what makes Kierkegaard's vision so compelling. He is no stranger to the contemporary experience of despair, anxiety, melancholy, meaninglessness, and absurdity. To the contrary, his soul is haunted by these moods, and his writings probe such affections with unparalleled care and insight. This nineteenth century prophet knows our world well. And yet Kierkegaard, unlike so many moderns refuses to leave his readers stranded on the shoals of

Mark C. Taylor is Associate Professor of Religion at Williams College and author of Kierkegaard's Pseudonymous Authorship: A Study of Time and Self (Princeton University Press, 1975). He is reviewing here the recently-completed seven-volume series of Soren Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers, published by Indiana University Press ($145 the set) and edited and translated by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong, assisted by Gregor Malantschuk, as well as the Hongs' new edition of Kierkegaard's Two Ages, The Age of Revolution and the Present Age: A Literary Review (Princeton University Press, 1978, $12.50); also included in his discussion is a review of Thomas C. Oden's Parables of Kierkegaard (Princeton University Press, 1978, $10.00).

421 - Kierkegaard Today

hopelessness, confronted by a totally alien and completely irrational world. His diagnosis of the malaise of modernity is directed toward the prescription of a radical cure-renewed belief in the Christian gospel. Kierkegaard is convinced that authentic selfhood finally is to be found only in the Christian form of life. He does not naively assert this belief in the face of the defiant disbelief of an ever more secular world. Rather, Kierkegaard takes the doubt and despair of modern humanity with utter seriousness. It is just this extraordinary sensitivity to the difficulty of belief in the contemporary world and his unrelenting honesty in wrestling with this problem that lend significance to Kierkegaard's works for our day.

The recent publication of several volumes of Kierkegaard's writings presents new possibilities for a deeper understanding of the life and work of this unusual figure. The appearance of Volumes V-VII of Søren Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers (Bloomington: Indiana University Press) completes the English translation of a major portion of Kierkegaard's twenty volume Danish Papirer. The first four volumes of the series present Kierkegaard's views on a broad range of issues. The selections are grouped around central themes in a way that permits easy access and quick reference. Volumes V and VI,* which are chronologically arranged, are devoted exclusively to autobiographical materials. Part one covers the period from 1829-1848, and part two the years from 1848-1855.

Kierkegaard the man, of course, is no less captivating than Kierkegaard the author. As a matter of fact, preoccupation with Kierkegaard's enigmatic personality has all too often overshadowed the substance of his thought. These journal entries provide the English-speaking audience with a previously unavailable glimpse of the "private" world of Kierkegaard. Here we see Kierkegaard examining religious and philosophical problems of his day, debating with other authors, as well as with himself, exploring existential dilemmas that threaten to sunder the self, and struggling to define his role as an author who seeks to "reintroduce Christianity into Christendom." These books will prove invaluable to people who want to come to an independent assessment of the intricate relation between author and text in the Kierkegaardian corpus. More generally conceived, the Hongs' superb translation of Kierkegaard's Journals recounts the story of a life-long religious quest with which many individuals undoubtedly will readily identify. Kierkegaard emerges from these pages as a latter-day Everyman whose spiritual pilgrimage is, in large measure, our own.

II

Kierkegaard's point of view, however, cannot be grasped properly apart from its historical context. He always regarded himself as a "corrective" to what he saw as problematic religious, social, and

*The final volume provides an extensive index to the series as a whole.

422 - Kierkegaard Today

historical tendencies of his era. Kierkegaard develops his interpretation of his own historical epoch most explicitly in an extended review of an anonymously published novel entitled Two Ages. In this essay, Kierkegaard considers the distinctive features of the "spiritlessness" characteristic of nineteenth century Europe by contrasting this period with the essentially "passionate" age of the French Revolution. Kierkegaard's deliberately idealized description presents the age of Revolution as a time in which "fossilized formalisms" and "narrow hearted customs" were overcome through impassioned devotion to an idea or a cause. In contrast to the vitality of this bygone era, "The present age is essentially a sensible, reflecting age, devoid of passion, flaring up in superficial, short-lived enthusiasm and prudentially relaxing in indolence." It is safe to say that nowhere else is Kierkegaard's diagnosis of the malaise peculiar to modernity so clearly stated as in this review.

This important study has recently appeared in a new English edition: Two Ages, The Age of Revolution and the Present Age: A Literary Review (trans. by Howard V. and Edna H. Hong, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978). The Hongs' excellent translation is effectively supplemented by a careful introduction and helpful notes. This book makes possible a greater appreciation of Kierkegaard's understanding of the historical setting within which he was writing. As a result of insights gained from this book, one is better able to comprehend the general motivation behind Kierkegaard's literary production. Two Ages is not, however, merely a useful piece of historical analysis. The Hongs correctly point out that "to many present-day readers the insights into the elemental trend in private and public life seem very penetrating and contemporary, a kind of prophecy from a solitary thinker of another century."

III

It would be unfortunate, of course, if interest in Kierkegaard's personality and historical importance were permitted to obscure more significant features of the form and content of his works. Kierkegaard's writings represent an artistry rarely, if ever, matched in the literature of Western philosophy and theology. He was a consummate stylist who was always aware of the problems and the possibilities of communicating through the written word. Surely one of the features of his writing that lends his works their lasting worth is his penchant for storytelling. Kierkegaard had an unusual ability to express complex ideas, difficult problems, and irresolvable paradoxes in the concrete medium of parable and narrative.

In an unusually imaginative collection of primary texts (Parables of Kierkegaard, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), Thomas C. Oden has captured this creative edge of Kierkegaard's works. "No writer in the tradition," Oden writes, "has made more persistent use of parables, stories, and narrative metaphors than has Søren Kierkegaard …, whose gift for storytelling has imprinted unforgettable images on

423 - Kierkegaard Today

our minds." Kierkegaard's stories make their point well, often expressing more adequately and more accurately ideas less effectively articulated in abstract philosophical and theological language. Left alone to ponder these parables, the reader discovers a world bursting with both humor and pathos, a world in which despair and hope, doubt and belief, God and self collide in passionate encounter. For the sensitive reader, these stories can provide the occasion for "self-examination" and "self-judgment." As Kierkegaard says of his Stages on Life's Way, "such works are mirrors: when a monkey peers into them, no Apostle can be seen looking out." Oden's collection of Kierkegaard's parables will be welcomed as a timely addition to the growing body of literature devoted to the exploration of the creative religious potential of narrative, myth, and story. These literary gems are not only delightful, they are provocative.

The mark of a great writer is ability to address common human concerns in a way that speaks to different people in different ages. According to this criterion, Kierkegaard is truly great. Though our world is no longer his, Kierkegaard's insight still holds promise of illumination for those patient enough to probe his sometimes puzzling writings. The recent appearance of new translations of Kierkegaard's writings enables us to return to his seminal works in order better to understand our times and ourselves.