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Søren Kierkegaard: the story on HearLore | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · The Young Man In The Red Cabbage Coat —
Søren Kierkegaard.
~8 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was born on the 5th of May 1813 in Copenhagen. He entered the world as the youngest of seven children to Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard and Ane Sørensdatter Lund Kierkegaard. His father was a wealthy wool merchant from Jutland who maintained a stern demeanor while hiding an active imagination beneath his rustic cloak. His mother had previously served as a maid before marrying into the family. She was described by her granddaughter Henriette Lund as a quiet woman who wielded influence over her children like a hen protecting her chicks.
Kierkegaard grew up in a household filled with literature and philosophy. His father hosted intellectuals at their home and was devoted to the rationalist philosophy of Christian Wolff. The young Søren studied Latin, Greek, and history at the School of Civic Virtue between 1821 and 1830. He was known there as very conservative, honoring the King and loving the church. Yet he frequently clashed with fellow students and felt ambivalent toward his teachers.
A physical description from 1836 captures his early appearance. Hans Brøchner found him almost comical at his brother Peter's wedding party. The twenty-three-year-old had something irregular about his entire form. His hair rose six inches above his forehead into a tousled crest that gave him a bewildered look. Another account describes him as slight and small, wearing a coat the color of red cabbage. His father called him the Fork because of his precocious tendency to make satirical remarks.
The Broken Engagement With Regine Olsen
Søren Kierkegaard met Regine Olsen on the 8th of May 1837. They were instantly attracted to one another. In his journals, he wrote idealistically about his love for her. After passing his theological examinations in July 1840, he formally proposed to Olsen on the 8th of September. He soon felt disillusioned about his prospects and broke off the engagement on the 11th of August 1841.
Kierkegaard believed his melancholy made him unsuitable for marriage. The precise motive for ending the relationship remains unclear to historians. It is generally believed that the two were deeply in love despite the separation. This personal tragedy became a major influence on his philosophical work and literary output.
During this period, Kierkegaard dedicated himself to authoring a dissertation. He submitted it in June 1841 and defended On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates over seven and a half hours on the 29th of September 1841. The thesis dealt with irony and Socrates. His friend Poul Martin Møller had died in 1838, yet his influence remained evident in the subject matter. Kierkegaard graduated from the University of Copenhagen on the 20th of October 1841 with a degree in philosophy.
His inheritance of approximately 31,000 rigsdaler enabled him to fund his work and living expenses. He wrote Repetition about a Young Man who has anxiety and depression because he feels he must sacrifice his love for Regine Olsen to God. Constantin Constantius served as the pseudonymous psychologist in that book.
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was born on the 5th of May 1813 in Copenhagen. He entered the world as the youngest of seven children to Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard and Ane Sørensdatter Lund Kierkegaard.
Who did Søren Kierkegaard marry or engage to during his life?
Søren Kierkegaard met Regine Olsen on the 8th of May 1837 and formally proposed to her on the 8th of September 1840 before breaking off the engagement on the 11th of August 1841. The precise motive for ending the relationship remains unclear to historians though it is generally believed that the two were deeply in love despite the separation.
What degree did Søren Kierkegaard receive from the University of Copenhagen?
Kierkegaard graduated from the University of Copenhagen on the 20th of October 1841 with a degree in philosophy after defending On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates over seven and a half hours on the 29th of September 1841. His thesis dealt with irony and Socrates while his friend Poul Martin Møller had died in 1838 yet his influence remained evident in the subject matter.
Which pseudonyms did Søren Kierkegaard use for his major philosophical works?
Fear and Trembling appeared under the pseudonym Johannes de Silentio while Repetition was written by Constantin Constantius who served as the psychologist. Victor Eremita edited Either/Or which was published on the 20th of February 1843 and contained papers of an unknown A and B which the pseudonymous author claimed to have discovered in a secret drawer of his secretary.
When did Søren Kierkegaard die and where is he buried?
Søren Kierkegaard died after over a month possibly from complications from a fall from a tree in his youth though it has also been suggested that he died from Pott disease a form of tuberculosis. He was interred in Assistens Kirkegård in the Nørrebro section of Copenhagen where his nephew Henrik Lund caused a disturbance at the funeral by protesting Kierkegaard's burial by the official church.
Kierkegaard published many works using pseudonyms while signing others under his own name. Fear and Trembling stands as his magnum opus alongside Either/Or. Victor Eremita edited Either/Or which was published on the 20th of February 1843. The book contained papers of an unknown A and B which the pseudonymous author claimed to have discovered in a secret drawer of his secretary.
A's papers were not straightforward while B's papers were arranged in an orderly fashion. Both characters approached the idea of first love from aesthetic and ethical points of view. The book argued about faith and marriage with a short discourse at the end telling them to stop arguing. Kierkegaard stressed the how of Christianity rather than the what.
Three months after Either/Or, on the 16th of May 1843, he published Two Upbuilding Discourses. These discourses appeared under his own name and are available today as Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses. David F. Swenson translated the works in the 1940s but Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong retranslated them in 1990 calling them Upbuilding Discourses.
On the 16th of October 1843, Kierkegaard published three more books about love and faith along with several discourses. Fear and Trembling appeared under the pseudonym Johannes de Silentio. Repetition was written by Constantin Constantius who served as the psychologist. Three Upbuilding Discourses followed under his own name dealing specifically with how love can hide things from yourself or others.
The Corsair Affair And Public Harassment
On the 22nd of December 1845, Peder Ludvig Møller published an article indirectly criticizing Stages on Life's Way. The article complimented Kierkegaard for his wit and intellect while questioning whether he would ever master his talent to write coherent complete works. Møller was a contributor to and editor of The Corsair, a Danish satirical paper that lampooned everyone of notable standing.
Over the next few months, The Corsair took Kierkegaard up on his offer to be abused. They unleashed a series of attacks making fun of his appearance, voice, and habits. For months, Kierkegaard perceived himself to be the victim of harassment on the streets of Denmark. A journal entry dated the 9th of March 1846 contained a long detailed explanation of this attack.
This experience made him rethink his strategy of indirect communication. There had been much discussion in Denmark about the pseudonymous authors until the publication of Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments on the 27th of February 1846. He openly admitted to being the author because people began wondering if he was actually a Christian.
Kierkegaard's final years were taken up with a sustained outright attack on the Church of Denmark. He used newspaper articles published in The Fatherland and self-published pamphlets called The Moment. These pamphlets are now included in Kierkegaard's Attack Upon Christendom. The Moment was translated into German and other European languages in 1861 and again in 1896.
He
The Attack On The State Church
first moved to action after Professor Hans Lassen Martensen gave a speech calling the recently deceased Bishop Jacob Peter Mynster a truth-witness. Kierkegaard explained that Mynster's death permitted him at last to be frank about his opinions. He later wrote that all his former output had been preparations for this attack postponed for years waiting for two preconditions: both his father and bishop Mynster should be dead before the attack, and he should himself have acquired a name as a famous theological writer.
His pamphlets criticized several aspects of church formalities and politics. According to Kierkegaard, the idea of congregations keeps individuals as children since Christians are disinclined from taking initiative to take responsibility for their own relation to God. He stressed that Christianity is the individual here the single individual.
Since the Church was controlled by the State, Kierkegaard believed the State's bureaucratic mission was to increase membership and oversee welfare. More members meant more power for clergymen creating a corrupt ideal. This political structure was offensive and detrimental to individuals since anyone could become Christian without knowing what it means to be Christian.
Before the tenth issue of his periodical The Moment could be published, Kierkegaard collapsed on the street. He stayed in Frederiks Hospital for over a month from the 2nd of October to the 11th of November 1855. He refused communion during this time. At that point, he regarded pastors as mere political officials who were clearly not
The Collapse And The Funeral
representative of the divine.
He told Emil Boesen, a friend since childhood, that his life had been one of immense suffering. Boesen kept a record of their conversations. Kierkegaard died after over a month possibly from complications from a fall from a tree in his youth. It has also been suggested that he died from Pott disease, a form of tuberculosis.
He was interred in Assistens Kirkegård in the Nørrebro section of Copenhagen. His nephew Henrik Lund caused a disturbance at the funeral by protesting Kierkegaard's burial by the official church. Lund maintained that Kierkegaard would never have approved if alive since he had broken from and denounced the institution. Lund was later fined for disrupting the funeral.
Kierkegaard wrote in Danish and reception of his work was initially limited to Scandinavia. By the turn of the 20th century, his writings were translated into French, German, and other major European languages. The first translation into German appeared in 1861 but Albert Bärthold undertook the first substantial program beginning in 1873.
Hermann Gottsche published Kierkegaard's Journals
The Slow Translation Into English
in 1905. It took academics fifty years to arrange his journals. Christoph Schrempf translated Kierkegaard's main works into German from 1909 onwards. Emmanuel Hirsch released a German edition of collected works from 1950 onwards.
Lee M. Hollander published the first translation of Kierkegaard into English. He was a scholar of Germanic philology at the University of Texas at Austin. By the middle of the 20th century, his thought exerted substantial influence on philosophy theology and Western culture in general.
Georg Brandes gave the first formal lectures on Kierkegaard in Copenhagen helping bring him to attention of the European intellectual community. Brandes published the first book on Kierkegaard's philosophy and life in 1879. Adolf Hult said this book fell far short of the truth yet it started the process of global recognition.