The author presents a holistic interpretation of Soren Kierkegaard's diverse writings. The study is claimed to be philosophical in the sense that it considers Kierkegaard's ever-developing conception of Socrates as a significant clue for understanding his own thought. This view undergoes several changes and culminates in the ironic idea that Socrates himself has become a Christian. The bare suggestion that this is the case implies that irony and Christianity are in some sense compatible. / In Part One, the author explores Kierkegaard' s early academic works, From the Papers of One Still Living, The Concept of Irony, and Johannes Climacus. These provide the background for understanding the development of Kierkegaard's philosophical life-view, and are shown to be the source of the indirect and ironic methodology Kierkegaard employs throughout his authorship proper. / There follows, in Part Two, an interpretation of the nature of Kierkegaard's pseudonymous works, which are held to be both ironic and serious. Then, Kierkegaard's maieutic method is elucidated through the examination of the writings of Johannes Climacus and Anti-Climacus. / In Part Three, Kierkegaard's veronymous writings are treated according to a double objective. First, the author argues that these writings may be read as instances of ironic communication; but that, second, in addition to the method of irony, that of edification must be seen as equally central to Kierkegaard's overall productivity. However we take them, Kierkegaard's writings considered as a whole turn out to be undecidable. They may be read as both ironic and edifying, both aesthetic and religious. Only in this way, the author claims, may the freedom of Kierkegaard's readers be maintained. / This foregoing comprehensive interpretation brings Kierkegaard in close proximity to postmodernism, and the author suggests what it means to read Kierkegaard as a postmodern philosopher. In this conclusion the author is not in complete agreement with prominent deconstructionist criticisms. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-08, Section: A, page: 3067. / Major Professor: E. F. Kaelin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76996 |
| Contributors | Strawser, Michael J., II., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 409 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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