Kierkegaard's Concept of Despair

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Theunissen, Michael., Author.

Contributor:

Illbruck, Helmut., Translator.

Series:

Princeton monographs in philosophy.

PRINCETON MONOGRAPHS IN PHILOS

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Despair.

Sin--Christianity.

Sin.

Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813-1855.

Kierkegaard, Søren.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (176 pages).

Place of Publication:

Princeton ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, [2005]

Summary:

The literature on Kierkegaard is often content to paraphrase. By contrast, Michael Theunissen articulates one of Kierkegaard's central ideas, his theory of despair, in a detailed and comprehensible manner and confronts it with alternatives. Understanding what Kierkegaard wrote on despair is vital not only because it illuminates his thought as a whole, but because his account of despair in The Sickness unto Death is the cornerstone of existentialism. Theunissen's book, published in German in 1993, is widely regarded as the best treatment of the subject in any language. Kierkegaard's Concept of Despair is also one of the few works on Kierkegaard that bridge the gap between the Continental and analytic traditions in philosophy. Theunissen argues that for Kierkegaard, the fundamental characteristic of despair is the desire of the self "not to be what it is." He sorts through the apparently chaotic text of The Sickness unto Death to explain what Kierkegaard meant by the "self," how and why individuals want to flee their selves, and how he believed they could reconnect with their selves. According to Theunissen, Kierkegaard thought that individuals in despair seek to deny their authentic selves to flee particular aspects of their character, their past, or the world, or in order to deny their "mission." In addition to articulating and evaluating Kierkegaard's concept of despair, Theunissen relates Kierkegaard's ideas to those of Heidegger, Sartre, and other twentieth-century philosophers.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

FIRST STUDY. The Existential Dialectical Basic Assumption of Kierkegaard’s Analysis of Despair

SECOND STUDY. On the Transcending Critique of Kierkegaard’s Analysis of Despair

SUMMARIZING CONCLUSION. Dialectic in The Sickness unto Death

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691163123

069116312X

9780691216195

0691216193

OCLC:

1026718470