kierkegaard intro by Hannay

Question 1

aesthetic writing

Answer 1

F&T = aesthetic writing

• ‘to treat something aesthetically is to grasp it in terms of the immediate impact it makes’ (9)
• it is ‘to treat life as a repository of objects of longing or loathing, as well as degrees of less affect in between’ (9)

Question 2

pseudonym

Answer 2

• borrowed from one of the Grimms’ fairy-tales, ‘The Faithful Servant’
• J = not silent but finds it difficult to articulate faith
• Unlike H, faith has no place in thought – ‘faith begins precisely where thinking leaves off’
• Faith = ‘an expression rather of the limit of what can be thought’ (11)
• Faith involves exiling oneself from the ‘realm of human discourse. His faith is an affront to humanity as we generally understand it, that is as a more or less well-defined set of dispositions that we expect or recognise in each other and value’ (11)

Question 3

first speech in praise of Abraham

Answer 3

‘the notion of speech is central to…(the) ‘lyrical’ effort at conveying to us what Abraham actually went through’ (13)
focus = can we speak about faith? Conc = probs not
speech establishes A’s greatness on 3 levels:
- what he loved (God)
- what he expected (the impossible)
- what he strove with (God)

Question 4

preamble from the heart

Answer 4

• notes how if A is to be deemed great as described in the speech, Hegelian philosophical concepts = impossible to uphold
• Hegel’s idea of Sittlichkeit (‘the ethical life’) is that morality comes with maintenance of the ethical unit formed by any society. Should always prioritise the universal from the individual
• For K, ‘to do what would normally count as contrary to your duties can only be justified if there is some wider benefit to the universal at stake’ (16)

Question 5

A’s sacrifice and the universal - teleological suspension of the ethical

Answer 5

A’s sacrifice does nothing for universal

• Deeper irony in the sense that God depicted Isaac as the path via which he could achieve the universal. Yet, he is willing to kill him
• ‘if Abraham’s act is not to be simple…murder, then there must be some higher court of appeal than that of the ethical life; there must be some authority that can be called absolute in relation to the ethical life, and in relation to which the ethical life is itself merely relative’ (16)
• this situation – ‘teleological suspension of the ethical’

Question 6

faith and renunciation

Answer 6

• need resignation for faith
• ‘resignation is…renouncing one’s most cherished hopes when whatever is hoped for proves unattainable…being resigned requires retaining the original interest but accepting that nothing on earth will permit it to be satisfied’ (17)
• faith presupposes renunciation. Renunciation does not presuppose faith

Question 7

serving universal

Answer 7

• ‘what is unintelligible about Abraham is that he is using the paradox to make himself incapable of realising the universal’ (25)
• A would argue that he is reaffirming his capacity to realise the universal – his belief is that he will get Isaac back even if he sacrifices him. He ‘reconstitutes the ability to serve the universal on the strength of the absurd’ (26)

Question 8

consequences of defining the ethical as universal

Answer 8

• Individual’s action is defined in terms of social intention
• There are no duties to God, only to the universal
• Cannot conceal moral projects

Not applicable to A who seems to negate social intentions and act according to a higher moral power – ‘he supposes himself to have an absolute duty to God that overrides the ethical defined as the universal’ (28)

Question 9

the real test for Abraham

Answer 9

The real test for A is to resist the temptation of providing an explanation for his actions – if he provided an explanation, he’d be acting according to the ethical (universal) instead of ‘proving himself to be, as a particular individual, higher than it’ (29)

Question 10

Hegelian vs. k view of universal

Answer 10

‘Where Hegelians believe individuals realise themselves by being taken up, consciously and willingly, in the universal, Abraham represents a diametrically opposite view in which the universal – or the presence of a social intention – has first to be established prior to entering (or re-entering) the universal’ (31)

Question 11

engagement

Answer 11

‘F&T belongs to series of works (Either/Or, Repetition, Stages on Life’s Way) concerned with ‘realising the universal’, a theme close to Kierkegaard’s heart in view of his decision not to proceed with his marriage’ (35)

• in F&T, this theme is placed in juxtaposition with themes of faith and sacrifice
• story of sacrifice with A & I = reflective of K’s sacrifice of his engagement
  
  • allowed him to reconsider ideas of faith - ‘in his journals he wrote that if he had had faith – faith for this life – he would have stayed with Regine. But that too would have required sacrifice, at least of his career as a writer and all that his life had seemed to be a preparation for’ (35)

Question 12

pathos

Answer 12

viewed the ‘frightful pathos’ in F&T as sufficient ‘to immortalise my name as an author’ (37)