Kierkegaard: A Guide for the Perplexed

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Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to fathom, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material. Soren Kierkegaard was the progenitor of existentialism, as well as a major literary figure and philosopher of ethics and religion. As such, he is a key figure in modern Western philosophy, one whose poetic, though complex, works - including the seminal Fear and Trembling - require close and careful study. Kierkegaard: A Guide for the Perplexed offers a cogent, comprehensive and authoritative account of Kierkegaard's philosophy, ideal for students and readers coming to his work for the first time and who want to reach a full and detailed understanding of this major thinker and writer. The book explores the relationship - particularly important in Kierkegaard's case - between his life and work. It covers the literary and philosophical challenges raised by Kierkegaard's 'direct' and 'indirect' forms of communication; considers Kierkegaard's important critique of Hegel; opens up his ideas on subjectivity and truth; and provides illuminating commentaries on both Fear and Trembling and Philosophical Fragments. Valuably, the guide shows how Kierkegaard's philosophical, religious, social, literary and personal concerns are integrated and unified in his works. It also assesses his influence on later philosophers, including Heidegger, Wittgenstein and Sartre.

Reviews

'Carlisle...does a fine job in helping readers see why Kierkegaard held his views by providing an interesting biography and arguing that Kierkegaard's philosophy is bound up with his life.. Many interesting facts are provided about the academic, philosophical and theological setting in which Kierkegaard developed his most important works.' Alex Orenstein, TLS
"In this fairly short, very clear, wide-ranging and quite lively introduction to the philosophically religious thought of Sren Kierkegaard, Claire Carlisle has done a service of great value to undergraduate students and also non-specialists interested in the formidable and vast collection of texts written -- though, importantly, not all signed, -- by Sren Kierkegaard ... the presentation of this book is happily very understandable and consistently illuminating." -- Matthew Ray for Metapsychology
"This book is clearly written, and provides the student with a rounded introduction to the multifaceted nature of Kierkegaard's thought in its philosophical, theological, and psychological aspects. It will, I should think, count along with C. Stephen Evans' Kierkegaard's Fragments and Postscript and John Lippitt's Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Kierkegaard and Fear and Tremblingall texts that come highly recommended on the Kierkegaard reading list." -Jamie Turnbull, Philosophy in Review

Author Bio

Clare Carlisle is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool, UK. She is the author of Kierkegaard's Philosophy of Becoming (SUNY Press, 2005).