Johannes Climacus: Or: A Life of Doubt

(Paperback, Main)

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Description

When Klerkegaard died at the age of forty-two, the papers found in his desk included Johannes Climacus, probably written in the winter of 1842-43. The book is a novel, as well as a work of philosophy, which tells the tale of what happens to the young Johannes Cllmacus as he decides to become a philosopher. Republished here in a revised translation, Johannes Climacus demonstrates that philosophy can be humorous and entertaining as well as conceptually rigorous. With its extraordinary combination of literary finesse and sharp philosophical wlt, it serves as an excellent introduction to a thinker whose stylistic and philosophical talents make even Nietzsche seem tame. Klerkegaard's invention of key philosophical concepts have been explored and redeployed by thinkers ever since.

Reviews

'The first postmodern ironist' New Statesman Sooren Kierkegaard says: 'Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards...'

Author Bio

S ren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) led a somewhat uneventful life, rarely leaving his hometown of Copenhagen. He travelled abroad only three times - to Berlin. His prime recreational activities were attending the theatre, walking the streets of Copenhagen to chat to ordinary people, and taking brief carriage jaunts into the surrounding countryside.