Encounters With Kierkegaard – a Life as Seen By His Comtemparies: A Life as Seen by His Contemporaries - Hardcover

Kirmmse, Bruce H

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691011060 ISBN 13: 9780691011066

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1996

Synopsis

Encounters with Kierkegaard is a collection of every known eyewitness account of the great Danish thinker. Through many sharp observations of family members, friends and acquaintances, supporters and opponents, the life story of this elusive and remarkable figure comes into focus, offering a rare portrait of Kierkegaard the man.

Often viewed by his contemporaries as a person who deliberately cultivated an air of mystery and eccentricity, Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) has been, then and now, a subject of great speculation. His startling attack on the established church, his broken engagement with a young woman from a respected family, and his searing criticisms of literary figures--from the editors of The Corsair to Hans Christian Andersen--are among the acts that brought him much notoriety during his short lifetime. Yet arriving at a sense of the philosopher's personality and motives behind his behavior has been a difficult task. He left no memoirs of autobiography, but in the enormous cannon of his published writings, the author and the person Søren Kierkegaard is problematically present in a welter of disguises. An indispensable path to understanding what he was like as a person, maintains Bruce Kirmmse, is through the observations of his contemporaries.

These accounts, ranging from the writings of Meïr Aron Goldschmidt, editor of The Corsair, to the recollections of Kierkegaard's fiancée, are organized around the major episodes of the philosopher's life. They enable us to glimpse, among many things, his spiritual and intellectual development, to get a sense of what it was like to be the object of his friendship or his wrath, and to examine various persons' opinions about his relationship with his young fiancée. The memories of this woman, Regine Olsen, who later married Fritz Schlegel, are among the most moving passages: they reveal her profound suffering, her personal understanding of Kierkegaard, and the satisfaction she ultimately felt, knowing that "he took her with him into history." This collection of first-hand accounts invites the reader to compare and interpret a wealth of fascinating stories, and in the end forms an intriguing "do-it-yourself" biography for both the scholar and general reader.

About this title

Review

"Kierkegaard left no memoirs or autobiography.... However, many of his contemporaries wrote down observations about him. All of these that are still available have been collected into this impressive volume. They cover all the major episodes of his life and provide an invaluable glimpse into his spiritual and intellectual development in all its agony and glory.... Meticulously researched and beautifully produced."--Peter C. Hodgson, Religious Studies Review

"Meticulously researched and beautifully produced."--Religious Studies Review

About the Author

Bruce H. Kirmmse is Professor of History at Connecticut College and has served as the director of the Department of S ren Kierkegaard Research at the University of Copenhagen. He is the author of Kierkegaard in Golden Age Denmark and serves on the editorial board of Kierkegaardiana and the advisory boards of the S ren Kierkegaard Research Centre in Copenhagen and the Howard and Edna Hong Kierkegaard Library at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0691011060
• ISBN 13: 9780691011066
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 378