Søren Kierkegaard:
A Pathfinder
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a writer and thinker who lived during Denmark's "Golden Age," a period of cultural flowering that produced many gifted intellectuals, artists, and religious figures. Kierkegaard is frequently referred to as the "father of existentialism," but he made equally important contributions to the fields of theology, psychology, literary criticism, and political theory.
Like Socrates before him, Kierkegaard likened himself to a gadfly whose mission in life was to provoke his countrymen and make them think. Kierkegaard believed that his fellow Danes were suffering from a kind of spiritual stagnation. Among the intellectual class, philosophical system building was all the rage. The individual’s quest for authentic existence, on the other hand, was no longer a fashionable topic for discussion. The growth of mass society and the church’s unquestioning acceptance of established social norms also contributed to the undermining of individual accountability in Kierkegaard’s view. It was the strenuousness of the individual’s journey towards selfhood--and its significance--which Kierkegaard sought to communicate. Many consider his message to be as timely today as it was one hundred and fifty years ago.
This pathfinder is intended for the advanced undergraduate or graduate student who desires to know more about Kierkegaard’s life and thought. Although the community of Kierkegaard scholars is an international one, sources listed in this pathfinder are in English, except for a few instances when multi-language resources have been included. For the most part, works cited here have been published within the last thirty years. With the exception of Internet resources, all materials are available at the Walter Royal Davis Library or the R. B. House Undergraduate Library on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Use the following Library of Congress
subject headings to locate resources
about Kierkegaard in UNC’s online catalog.
Resources on Kierkegaard are available in the Davis Reference Department (1st floor, Davis Library) and in the Davis and R. B. House stacks under the following call number ranges.
B4370–B4378
Works by Kierkegaard; Philosophical treatments of Kierkegaard
(3rd floor, Davis Library)
BX4827. K5
Theological treatments of Kierkegaard
(3rd floor, Davis Library)
B51 – B819
Philosophical Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
(1st floor, Davis Reference)
Z8464.25 Bibliographies
about Kierkegaard
(8th floor, Davis Library)
Gordon, Hayim, ed. Dictionary
of Existentialism. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999.
[Davis Reference B819 .D455 1999]
This specialized dictionary contains an eight page entry on the Dane and numerous
cross references to such key Kierkegaardian concepts as “existence,”
“freedom,” “choice,” “community,” etc. Pp.
239-246.
Watkin, Julia. Historical
Dictionary of Kierkegaard’s Philosophy. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow
Press, Inc., 2001.
[Davis Library B4371 .W38 2001]
This is a dictionary and much more. “It places … [Kierkegaard] in
his historical and geographic context, introduces his writings, and explains
many … crucial concepts. It provides information on Kierkegaard and his
contemporaries and also on relevant thinkers…” (Editor’s Forward).
In addition, this work contains a chronology of Kierkegaard’s life, appendices
to his writings, and an extensive and up-to-date bibliography (pp. 277-383).
Craig, Edward, ed. Routledge
Encyclopedia of Philosophy. London: Routledge, 1998.
[Davis and House Libraries (Reference) B51 .R68 1998]
The article on Kierkegaard in this volume presents a general overview of major
Kierkegaardian themes, including aestheticism and the ethical, the limits of
objectivity, religious consciousness, faith and subjectivity, and existential
psychology. Key concepts are cross-referenced and an annotated bibliography
is provided. Vol. 5, pp. 235-244.
Edwards, Paul, ed. The
Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1967.
[Davis Reference B51 .E52]
Alasdair MacIntyre’s article is sharply critical of Kierkegaard’s
views on rationality and ethical-religious existence, but this is a noteworthy
philosophical essay by a distinguished, contemporary philosopher. Vol. 4, pp.
336-340.
Glendinning, Simon, ed. The
Edinburgh Encyclopedia of Continental Philosophy. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn
Publishers, 1999.
[Davis Reference B803 .E35 1999]
This encyclopedia offers “a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the
central movements, authors and themes that comprise what has become known as
the Continental tradition of philosophy” (Preface, vii). This is a useful
resource for those desiring to explore the relationship between Kierkegaard
and twentieth century continental philosophy. Includes a bibliography. Pp. 103-114.
Stanford Encyclopedia
of Philosophy
<http://plato.stanford.edu/>
This online encyclopedia contains an excellent article on Kierkegaard by William
MacDonald. The article includes an extensive bibliography and links to other
internet resources.
Numerous scholars have speculated about how events in Kierkegaard’s own life (e.g. a strict religious upbringing, a broken engagement, etc.) may have influenced his thought. The relation between Kierkegaard’s life and work is rendered even more problematic by his use of pseudonyms: Who was the man behind the masks? The following works provide a starting point for exploring this question.
Kirmmse, Bruce H. Kierkegaard
in Golden Age Denmark. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
[Davis and House Libraries B4377 .K5175 1990]
This work combines an intellectual biography of Kierkegaard with a history of
Denmark from 1780-1850. Particularly useful for those researching Kierkegaard’s
political and social views. 558 p.
Kirmmse, Bruce H., ed. Encounters
with Kierkegaard: A Life As Seen by His Contemporaries. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1996.
[Davis Library B4376 .E43 1996]
A portrait of Kierkegaard created by the reports and observations of his contemporaries.
Included are first hand accounts from Kierkegaard’s family, schoolmates,
teachers, friends, and even those he encountered on his daily walks around Copenhagen.
358p.
Lowrie, Walter. A Short
Life of Kierkegaard. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1942.
[Davis Library B4376 .L6]
A dated, but classic, work mentioned in virtually every Kierkegaard bibliography.
Ideal for the student seeking an overview of the major events in Kierkegaard’s
life. 271 p.
Bretall, Robert, ed. A
Kierkegaard Anthology. NewYork: Random House, 1946.
[Davis and House Libraries B4372 .E5 B7 1946]
Long the standard text in college bookstores, this anthology includes selections
from Either/Or, Edifying Discourses, Fear and Trembling,
Repetition, Philosophical Fragments, Concluding Unscientific
Postscript, The Sickness Unto Death, Works of Love, Training
in Christianity, etc. 494p.
Hong, Howard V., ed. The
Essential Kierkegaard. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press,
2000.
[Davis Library B4372 .E5 2000]
This new anthology is by the editor of the main English language translation
of Kierkegaard’s works (i.e. Kierkegaard's Writings, issued by
Princeton University Press). Like Bretall’s anthology, it covers both
philosophical and ethical-religious works by Kierkegaard. 524 p.
The following books are “classics” that appear repeatedly in bibliographies on Kierkegaard. Many of the authors cited here have published extensively on Kierkegaard and related thinkers. This sampling of texts provides a broad variety of philosophical perspectives .
Hannay, Alastair. Kierkegaard.
Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982.
[Davis Library B4377 .H348]
This is a clear and thorough introduction to Kierkegaard that accomplishes the
author’s aim of giving a “comprehensive and critical account of
Kierkegaard’s thought” (Author’s preface). Included are chapters
on Kierkegaard’s predecessor Hegel, on the “knight of faith,”
the “dialectic” of faith, the pathology of the self, Kierkegaard’s
ethical-religious works, and his social and political philosophy. 385 p.
Mackey, Louis. Kierkegaard:
A Kind of Poet. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971.
[Davis Library B4377 .M26]
Mackey argues that Kierkegaard’s philosophy cannot be separated from its
literary form without distorting its meaning: “whatever philosophy there
is in Kierkegaard is sacramentally transmitted ‘in, with, and under poetry’”
(Author’s preface). Mackey’s book is one of the best known representatives
of this point of view. 327 p.
Nordentoft, Kresten. Kierkegaard’s
psychology. Trans. Bruce H. Kirmmse. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press,
1978.
[Davis and House Libraries BF128 .D3 N6713]
This text focuses on Kierkegaard’s two principal psychological works:
The Concept of Anxiety and The Sickness Unto Death. It was
originally published as Kierkegaard’s Psykologi by G. E. C. GAD,
Copenhagen, 1972. 408 p.
Pojman, Louis P. Kierkegaard’s
Philosophy of Religion. San Francisco: International Scholars Publications,
1999.
[Davis Library B4378 .C5 P64 1984]
Pojman, a philosopher writing in the analytic tradition, argues for the controversial
thesis that Kierkegaard is a “rationalist” who uses “arguments
… to establish conclusions about the reasonableness of religious belief”
(Author’s preface) 318 p.
Taylor, Mark C. Journeys
to Selfhood: Hegel and Kierkegaard. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1980.
[Davis and House Libraries B4378 .S4 T38]
Kierkegaard frequently contrasted his philosophy with that of Hegel’s.
In this book, Mark Taylor attempts “to bring Hegel and Kierkegaard closer
together so that their differences can emerge more clearly” (Author’s
preface). 298 p.
Weston, Michael. Kierkegaard
and Modern Continental Philosophy: An Introduction. New York: Routledge,
1994.
[Davis Library B4377 .W46 1994]
Weston explores the relationship between Kierkegaard and “the metaphysical
tradition, as exemplified by Plato and Hegel, and the post-metaphysical critiques
of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida.” As the title indicates, this is
a useful text for those interested in exploring the connections between Kierkegaard
and twentieth century continental philosophy. 200 p.
Davenport, John J. and Anthony
Rudd, eds. Kierkegaard After MacIntyre: Essays on Freedom, Narrative, and
Virtue. Chicago: Open Court Publishing Co., 2001.
[Davis Library B4378 .E8 K54 2001]
Kierkegaard’s views on the relationship between ethics and rationality
are a hotly debated topic. This timely collection of essays examines the similarities
and differences between Kierkegaard’s thought and neo-Aristotelian “virtue
ethics” (Editors’ acknowledgements). 363 p.
Hannay, Alastair, and Gordon
D. Marino, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Kierkegaard. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1998.
[Davis and House Libraries B4377 .C29 1998]
This volume of essays is intended as a “reference work for students and
nonspecialists” (flyleaf). It is a balanced collection and resists aligning
itself with one particular philosophical camp. “[T]opics covered include
Kierkegaard’s views on art and religion, ethics and psychology, theology
and politics, and knowledge and virtue” (flyleaf). 428 p.
Rée, Jonathan and
Jane Chamberlain, eds. Kierkegaard: A Critical Reader. Malden, Massachusetts:
Blackwell Publishers Inc., 1998.
[Davis Library B4377 .K45 1998]
The essays in this reader examine Kierkegaard from the perspective of contemporary
continental philosophy. A number of the contributors-- Paul Ricoeur, Emmanuel
Levinas, and Jacques Derrida-- are acclaimed philosophers in their own right.
186 p.
Perkins, Robert L., ed. International
Kierkegaard Commentary. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1984-
[Davis Library B4376 .I58 1984]
Each book of essays in this series is devoted to an individual work by Kierkegaard.
It is thus of value to readers who wish to study a particular work in depth
and from a variety of perspectives.
Søren Kierkegaard
Selskabet, ed. Kierkegaardiana. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1955-
[R. B. House Undergraduate Library 198.905 K47]
A twenty-one volume series (ongoing) that is published under the auspices of
the Søren Kierkegaard Society of Denmark and the Department of Søren
Kierkegaard Research, Copenhagen University. The essays in these volumes are
written by noted Kierkegaard scholars, and the majority are in English although
a few are in other major languages.
Thulstrup, Niels, and Marie
Mikulová, eds. Bibliotheca Kierkegaardiana. Copenhagen: C. A.
Reitzel.
[Davis Library B4377 .B52]
The sixteen volumes in this series (1978-1988) each focus on a major Kierkegaardian
theme (e.g. “Kierkegaard’s View of Christianity,” “Kierkegaard
and Speculative Idealism,” “Kierkegaard and the Church in Denmark,”
etc.). This series also contains foreign language articles, but most are in
English.
The indexes and databases listed
below can be used to access citations to scholarly resources—primarily
journal articles—that relate to Kierkegaard. Electronic access to these
sources is available through UNC Libraries; off campus access is limited to
students, faculty, and staff with a valid PID number.
[E Indexes and Databases (on the UNC Libraries home page) <http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/eid/>]
Philosopher’s
Index via Silverplatter
“The Philosopher’s Index provides indexing and abstracts from books
and journals of philosophy and related fields. It covers the areas of ethics,
aesthetics, social philosophy, political philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics,
and logic, as well as material on the philosophy of law, religion, science,
history, education, and language.” [Vendor description]. Medium:
Web Coverage: 1940-present
POIESIS
via Intelex Corporation and the Philosophy Documentation Center
“Poiesis provides access to a searchable database of over 30 important
scholarly philosophy journals. The database allows for word searches of the
full text of every journal in the database. Searches return complete citations,
abstracts where available, and text immediately surrounding each occurrence
of the search item. Full text access is available for many of the journals [Vendor
description]. Medium: Web Coverage: varies
with journal
Evans, Calvin D. Søren
Kierkegaard Bibliographies: Remnants, 1944-1980 and Multi-Media,1925-1991.
Montreal: McGill University Library, 1993.
[Davis Library B4377 .E836 1993]
Evans, a librarian, claims that the high percentage of unique items in this
bibliography (i.e. items not found in the Lapointe and Jørgensen bibliographies
mentioned below) is due to his use of indices and abstracting services which
are unfamiliar to many scholars. In addition to books, articles, and dissertations,
Evans lists audiotapes, films, music, radio, slides, and theater pieces on Kierkegaard.
Lapointe, Francois H. Sören
Kierkegaard and His Critics: An International Bibliography of Criticism.
Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1980.
[Davis Library Z8464.25 .L5]
Includes entries arranged by subject area and by proper name (i.e. historical
figures with some relationship to Kierkegaard). An author and editor index is
also provided. 430 pages.
The web sites listed below are clearinghouses of information about Kierkegaard. Use these sites to find biographies, bibliographies, online essays, conference announcements, discussion groups, and links to other websites on Kierkegaard.
International Kierkegaard
Information
<http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/kierkegaard/>
This web site contains information about Kierkegaard societies and research
institutes around the world. The electronic version of the International Kierkegaard
Newsletter (ed. Julia Watkin) is posted here, as is news about current conferences,
courses, meetings, and calls for papers.
The Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong Kierkegaard Library
<http://www.stolaf.edu/library/kierkegaard/main.html>
This is the home page of the American research center established by the editors
of Kierkegaard’s Writings. The Hong Library contains “the
largest collection of materials for Kierkegaard studies outside of Denmark….
[It] boasts a vibrant visiting fellowship program for scholars doing Kierkegaard
related research.” The Library also sponsors the publication of the Søren
Kierkegaard Newsletter. The website features an electronic mailing list
for academic discussions.
Kierkegaard on the Internet
<http://www.webcom.com/kierke/>
This site features introductory essays on Kierkegaard, links to other web resources,
news and announcements, a discussion forum, and a “web library”
with free web space for publishing Kierkegaard papers on the internet.
This pathfinder was
created by Juliet Rumble, Graduate Student
School of Information and Library Science
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Send questions or comments to rumbj@email.unc.edu
Last updated March 23, 2003