What 'Cannot Be Said' About Fear and Trembling
Location
CSU 285
Start Date
25-4-2005 3:15 PM
End Date
25-4-2005 5:30 PM
Student's Major
Philosophy
Student's College
Arts and Humanities
Mentor's Name
Craig Matarrese
Mentor's Department
Philosophy
Mentor's College
Arts and Humanities
Description
Soren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling has long troubled philosophers due to its complex ideas and themes presented to the reader within its unique literary structure. The literary value of the work is both a blessing and a curse, as it provides readers with an enjoyable reading experience rather then dry philosophical jargon, but also conceals many of the important philosophical themes within this writing. The ambition of this paper is to present what I take to be the main themes of Fear and Trembling and provide a clarification of the themes so to be understood by someone other then a Kierkegaard scholar. To accomplish this I will, when it is possible, to avoid sacrificing philosophical depth, employ more commonly understood language rather then 'Kierkegaardian jargon.' This will result in a strong focus on the philosophical meaning of each theme above all else. By extension I will raise the issue of defending Kierkegaard's main arguments which each theme involves, but will not provide an exclusive defense of any one argument from the work. I will be looking at the text from within the text, as a separate entity rather than merely a point along Kierkegaard's philosophical development. The goal of this paper is to provide people with a clarification of this brilliant work with which they can become better associated to the text.
What 'Cannot Be Said' About Fear and Trembling
CSU 285
Soren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling has long troubled philosophers due to its complex ideas and themes presented to the reader within its unique literary structure. The literary value of the work is both a blessing and a curse, as it provides readers with an enjoyable reading experience rather then dry philosophical jargon, but also conceals many of the important philosophical themes within this writing. The ambition of this paper is to present what I take to be the main themes of Fear and Trembling and provide a clarification of the themes so to be understood by someone other then a Kierkegaard scholar. To accomplish this I will, when it is possible, to avoid sacrificing philosophical depth, employ more commonly understood language rather then 'Kierkegaardian jargon.' This will result in a strong focus on the philosophical meaning of each theme above all else. By extension I will raise the issue of defending Kierkegaard's main arguments which each theme involves, but will not provide an exclusive defense of any one argument from the work. I will be looking at the text from within the text, as a separate entity rather than merely a point along Kierkegaard's philosophical development. The goal of this paper is to provide people with a clarification of this brilliant work with which they can become better associated to the text.
