This thesis explores affinities between the thinking of Søren Kierkegaard and the writers of five of the individual lament psalms. Those affinities between Kierkegaard and the writers of the psalms have two aspects: the subject and the approach to that subject. The main subject that both Kierkegaard and the writer of these psalms deal with is the issue of existential anxiety. This is angst which is rooted not in our upbringing but in our existence. Then there is an affinity between the approach of Kierkegaard and that of the writers of these psalms to the afore-mentioned anxiety. This thesis first clarifies the approach of Kierkegaard. It argues that the concepts of finitude and time encapsulate his approach to the issue of existential anxiety. Then, when these concepts are applied to the psalms, the present thesis shows how the texts come into focus in a way that has not been seen previously. In the final part of the thesis it is argued that at the centre of those affinities between Kierkegaard and the psalmists there is the concept of embodiment. The basis of this argument is that, for both the psalmists and Kierkegaard, a body-less personhood is meaningless. The essence of being human is not mental or even spiritual – it is physical.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:759994 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Latifzadeh, Afshin |
| Contributors | Schaper, Joachim |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=238893 |
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