Philosophical Fragments
by Søren Kierkegaard · Philosophiske Smuler
Assigned by 3 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1844
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- Danish
- Length
- Short · 110 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendPhilosophical Fragments, Johannes Climacus, translated by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. HongPrinceton University Press, 1985The standard scholarly translation, with Kierkegaard's own notes and the related early draft.
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A short book issued under the pseudonym Johannes Climacus that asks whether an eternal happiness can be based on a historical point of departure. It sets against Socrates, for whom truth is recollected and the teacher only an occasion, a hypothesis in which the learner is in untruth, the teacher must be the god himself, and the moment of learning is decisive. Working out this hypothesis, Climacus arrives at the incarnation, the paradox that reason both seeks and cannot think, and argues that the disciple at second hand is no worse placed than the eyewitness, since faith, not knowledge, is what the paradox requires.
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The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Philosophical Fragments are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
