Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments, Volume 1 0691073953, 0691020817, 9780691073958

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CONCLUDING UNSCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT TO PHILOSOPHICAL FRAGMENTS VOLUME I

KIERKEGAARD'S WRITINGS, XII.1

CONCLUDING UNSCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT TO PHILOSOPHICAL FRAGlWENTS

by Seren Kierkegaard VOLUME I: TEXT Edited and Translated with Introduction and Notes by

Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

Copyright © 1992 by Howard V, Hong

Published by Princeton Univewty Press, 41 Wilham Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton Untversity Press, Oxford All Rights Reserved

LIbrary of Congress Cataloging-in-PublICation Data

Klerkegaard, S.,en, 1813-1855. [Afsluttende uVldenskabelig efierskrifi English1 Concluding unsCIentific postscript to Philosophical fragments / by Seren Kierkegaard ; edited and translated WIth introduction and notes by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. cm.-(Kierkegaard's writings; 12) p Translation 0./ Afsluttende uVldenskabelig efterskrifi Includes index. ISBN 0-691-07395-3 (v.I· alk. paper)-ISBN 0-691-02081-7 (pbk . . v. 1)ISBN 0-691-07395-3 (v. 2 : alk. paper)-ISBN 0-691-02081-7 (pbk : v. 2) 1. Christianity-Philosophy. 2. Apologetics-19th century. I. Hong, Howard Vincent, 1912II. Hong, Edna Hatlestad, 1913- . III. Title IV, Senes Kierkegaard, Seren, 1813-1855. Works. English. 1978; 12. B4373.A472E5 1992 201-dc20 91-4093 Preparation of this volume has been made posSIble in part by a grant from the Division of Research Programs of the NatIOnal Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency Princeton UniverSIty Press books are pnnted on acid-.free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelmesfor Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources Designed by Frank Mahood

Printed m the United States of America by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey

1 3 5 7 9 108642

CONTENTS

Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments

1

PREFACE

5 INTRODUCTION

9

Part One THE OBJECTIVE ISSUE OF THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY

19 CHAPTER I

The Historical Point of View

23

§ 1. Holy Scripture 24 § 2. The Church 34

§ 3. The Evidence of the Centuries for the Truth of Christianity 46 CHAPTERn

The Speculative Point of View 50

vi

Contents

Part Two THE SUBJECTIVE ISSUE, THE SUBJECTIVE INDIVIDUAL'S RELATION TO THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY, OR BECOMING A CHRISTIAN

59 Section I

SOMETHING ABOUT LESSING

61

CHAPTER I

An Expression of Gratitude to Lessing

63 CHAPTER II

Possible and Actual Theses by Lessing 72

1. The subjective existing thinker is aware of the dialectic of communication 72

2. In his existence-relation to the truth, the existing subjective thinker is just as negative as positive, has just as much of the comic as he essentially has ofpathos, and is continually in a process of becoming, that is, striving 80 3. Lessing has said that contingent historical truths can never become a demonstration of eternal truths of reason, also that the transition whereby one will build an eternal truth on historical reports is a leap 93 4. Lessing has said: If God held all truth in his right hand and continual striving in his left, he would choose the latter 106

Contents

Vll

a. A logical system can be given

109 b. A system of existence cannot be given

118 Section II

THE SUBJECTIVE ISSUE, OR HOW SUBJECTIVITY

MUST BE CONSTITUTED IN ORDER THAT THE ISSUE CAN BE MANIFEST TO IT

127

CHAPTER I

Becoming Subjective What ethics would have to judge if becoming subjective were not the highest task assigned to a human being; what must be disregarded in a closer understanding of this task; examples of thinking oriented to becoming subjective

129

CHAPTER II

Subjective Truth, Inwardness; Truth Is Subjectivity

189

APPENDIX

A Glance at a Contemporary Effort in Danish Literature

251

CHAPTER III

Actual Subjectivity, Ethical Subjectivity; the Subjective Thinker

§ 1. What It Means to Exist; Actuality 301

§ 2. Possibility Superior to Actuality; Actuality Superior to Possibility; Poetic and Intellectual Ideality; Ethical Ideality

318

viii

Contents

§ 3. The Contemporaneity oj the Particular Elements oj Subjectivity in the Existing Subjective Individual; Contemporaneity as the Opposite oj the Speculative Process

§ 4. The Subjective Thinker; His Task, His Form, That Is, His Style 343

349

The Issue in Fragments: How Can an Eternal Happiness Be Built on Historical Knowledge? CHAPTER IV

For Orientation in the Plan of Fragments DMSIONI

§ 1. That the Point oJDeparture Was Taken in Paganism, and Why 361 § 2. The Importance oja Preliminary Agreement about What Christianity Is BeJore There Can Be Any Question oja Mediation oJChristianity and Speculative Thought; the Absence ojan Agreement Favors Mediation, Although Its Absence Renders Mediation Illusory; the Supervention ojan Agreement Prevents Mediation 369 § 3. The Issue in Fragments as an Introductory Issue, not to Christianity but to Becoming a Christian 381 DIVISION 2

The Issue Itself The individual's eternal happiness is decided in time through a relation to something historical that furthermore is historical in such a way that its composition includes that which according to its nature cannot become historical and consequently must become that by virtue of the absurd

385

Contents

IX

A PATHOS

387

§ 1. The Initial Expression of Existential Pathos, the Absolute

Orientation (Respect) toward the Absolute "tEAOC; Expressed through Action in the Transformation of Existence-Esthetic Pathos-the Illusiveness of Mediation-the Monastic Movement of the Middle Ages-Simultaneously to Relate Oneself Absolutely to One's Absolute "tEAOC; and Relatively to Relative Ends 387

§ 2. The Essential Expression of Existential Pathos: Suffering-

Fortune and Misfortune as an Esthetic Life- View in Contrast to Suffering as a Religious Life- View (Illustrated by the Religious Address)-the Actuality of Suffering (Humor)-the Actuality of Suffiring in the Latter State as a Sign That an Existing Individual Relates Himself to an Eternal Happiness-the Illusion of Religiousness-Spiritual Trial-the Basis and Meaning of Suffering in the Former State: Dying to Immediacy and Yet Remaining in the Finite-an Upbuilding Diversion-Humor as the Incognito of Religiousness 431

§ 3. The Decisive Expression of Existential Pathos Is Guilt-

That the Inquiry Goes Backward Rather Than Forward-the Eternal Recollection of Guilt Is the Highest Expression of the Relation of the Guilt-Consciousness to an Eternal HappinessLower Expressions of the Guilt-Consciousness and Corresponding Forms ofSatisfoction-Penance of One's Own MakingHumor-the Religiousness ofHidden Inwardness 525 The Intermediate Clause between A and B 555 B THE DIALECTICAL

561

x

Contents

§ 1. The Dialectical Contradiction That Constitutes the Break: to Expect an Eternal Happiness in Time through a Relation to Something Else in Time 570 § 2. The Dialectical Contradiction That an Eternal Happiness Is Based on the Relation to Something Historical 574 § 3. The Dialectical Contradiction That the Historical under Consideration Here Is Not Something Historical in the Ordinary Sense But Consists of That Which Can Become Historical Only against Its Nature, Consequently by Virtue ofthe Absurd

578

APPENDIX TO B

The Retroactive Effect of the Dialectical on Pathos Leading to a Sharpened Pathos, and the Contemporaneous Elements of This Pathos

581

a. The consciousness ofsin

583

b. The possibility of offense

585

c. The pain ofsympathy

585

CHAPTER V

Conclusion

587 Becoming or Being a Christian Is Defined Objectively

607 Being a Christian Is Defined Subjectively 610

Contents APPENDIX

An Understanding with the Reader

617

A First and Last Explanation [625]

xi

CONCLUDING UNSCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT TO PHILOSOPHICAL FRAGMENTS A MIMICAL-PATHETICAL-DIALECTICAL COMPILATION AN EXISTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION

by

JOHANNES CLIMACUS Edited by S. Kierkegaard

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