Kierkegaard, Philosophical Fragments

For our June meeting, we will conclude our two-month discussion of Søren Kierkegaard's Philosophical Fragments, focusing this month on the second half of the essay (Chapter 4 forward, beginning on page 31 of the PDF below).

For our discussion, we will be meeting at the Bayou Heights Biergarten and sitting inside (upstairs above the beer taproom). Below is a link to the reading followed by a brief description of the work:

CLICK HERE TO VIEW/DOWNLOAD THE READING

Philosophical Fragments, written by Søren Kierkegaard under the pseudonym Johannes Climacus, is a pivotal 1844 work that contrasts Christian paradox with Greek philosophy, particularly the Socratic idea of truth as recollection, arguing that Christian truth is acquired through grace and the "absolute paradox" of the God-man. It explores doubt, the limits of reason, and the individual's passionate commitment to faith, challenging the speculative theology of Hegel and laying groundwork for existentialism.
The central issue of Johannes Climacus is doubt. Probably written between November 1842 and April 1843 but unfinished and published only posthumously, this book was described by Kierkegaard as an attack on modern speculative philosophy by "means of the melancholy irony, which did not consist in any single utterance on the part of Johannes Climacus but in his whole life. . . . Johannes does what we are told to do--he actually doubts everything--he suffers through all the pain of doing that, becomes cunning, almost acquires a bad conscience. When he has gone as far in that direction as he can go and wants to come back, he cannot do so. . . . Now he despairs, his life is wasted, his youth is spent in these deliberations. Life does not acquire any meaning for him, and all this is the fault of philosophy." A note by Kierkegaard suggests how he might have finished the work: "Doubt is conquered not by the system but by faith, just as it is faith that has brought doubt into the world!."