Kierkegaard and the Question Concerning Technology

Download Kierkegaard and the Question Concerning Technology PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1628926686
Total Pages : 311 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (289 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Kierkegaard and the Question Concerning Technology by : Christopher B. Barnett

Download or read book Kierkegaard and the Question Concerning Technology written by Christopher B. Barnett and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2019-08-22 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last several decades, technology has emerged as an important area of interest for both philosophers and theologians. Yet, despite his status as one of modernity's seminal thinkers, Søren Kierkegaard is not often seen as one who contributed to the field. Kierkegaard and the Question Concerning Technology argues otherwise. Christopher B. Barnett shows that many of Kierkegaard's criticisms of "the present age" relate to the increasing dominance of technology in the West, and he puts Kierkegaard's thought in conversation with subsequent thinkers who grappled with technological issues, from Martin Heidegger to Thomas Merton. Barnett shows that Kierkegaard's writing, with its marked emphases on personal "upbuilding," stands as a place where deeper, non-technical modes of thinking are both commended and nurtured. In doing so, Barnett presents a Kierkegaard who remains relevant--perhaps all too relevant--in today's digital age.

Kierkegaard and the Question Concerning Technology

Download Kierkegaard and the Question Concerning Technology PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1628926694
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (289 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Kierkegaard and the Question Concerning Technology by : Christopher B. Barnett

Download or read book Kierkegaard and the Question Concerning Technology written by Christopher B. Barnett and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2019-08-22 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last several decades, technology has emerged as an important area of interest for both philosophers and theologians. Yet, despite his status as one of modernity's seminal thinkers, Søren Kierkegaard is not often seen as one who contributed to the field. Kierkegaard and the Question Concerning Technology argues otherwise. Christopher B. Barnett shows that many of Kierkegaard's criticisms of "the present age" relate to the increasing dominance of technology in the West, and he puts Kierkegaard's thought in conversation with subsequent thinkers who grappled with technological issues, from Martin Heidegger to Thomas Merton. Barnett shows that Kierkegaard's writing, with its marked emphases on personal "upbuilding," stands as a place where deeper, non-technical modes of thinking are both commended and nurtured. In doing so, Barnett presents a Kierkegaard who remains relevant--perhaps all too relevant--in today's digital age.

Historical Dictionary of Kierkegaard's Philosophy

Download Historical Dictionary of Kierkegaard's Philosophy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1538122626
Total Pages : 339 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (381 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Historical Dictionary of Kierkegaard's Philosophy by : Christopher B. Barnett

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Kierkegaard's Philosophy written by Christopher B. Barnett and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-06-22 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historical Dictionary of Kierkegaard's Philosophy, Second Edition chronicles the life and thoughts of the great Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard (1813-55). What makes this volume essential is its extensive scope: it provides a glossary of concepts, persons, and places related to Kierkegaard’s authorship, from “Absolute” to “Hans Christian Ørsted.” This is done through a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 200 cross-referenced entries oncepts, persons, and places related to the life and work of Søren Kierkegaard. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about this subject.

The Humor of Kierkegaard

Download The Humor of Kierkegaard PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780691020853
Total Pages : 356 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (28 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Humor of Kierkegaard by : Søren Kierkegaard

Download or read book The Humor of Kierkegaard written by Søren Kierkegaard and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2004-07-26 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who might reasonably be nominated as the funniest philosopher of all time? With this anthology, Thomas Oden provisionally declares Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855) -- despite his reputation as the melancholy, despairing Dane -- as, among philosophers, the most amusing. Kierkegaard not only explored comic perception to its depths but also practiced the art of comedy as astutely as any writer of his time. This collection shows how his theory of comedy is integrated into his practice of comic perception, and how both are integral to his entire authorship. "The Humor of Kierkegaard" is for anyone ready to be amused by human follies. Those new to Kierkegaard will discover a dazzling mind worth meeting. Those already familiar with his theory of comedy will be delighted to see it concisely set forth and exemplified. -- From publisher's description.

The Question Concerning Technology, and Other Essays

Download The Question Concerning Technology, and Other Essays PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0061319694
Total Pages : 228 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (613 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Question Concerning Technology, and Other Essays by : Martin Heidegger

Download or read book The Question Concerning Technology, and Other Essays written by Martin Heidegger and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1982-01-19 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "To read Heidegger is to set out on an adventure. The essays in this volume--intriguing, challenging, and often baffling to the reader--call him always to abandon all superficial scanning and to enter wholeheartedly into the serious pursuit of thinking.... "Heidegger is not a 'primitive' or a 'romanitic.' He is not one who seeks escape from the burdens and responsibilities of contemporary life into serenity, either through the re-creating of some idyllic past or through the exalting of some simple experience. Finally, Heidegger is not a foe of technology and science. He neither disdains nor rejects them as though they were only destructive of human life. "The roots of Heidegger's hinking lie deep in the Western philosophical tradition. Yet that thinking is unique in many of its aspects, in its language, and in its leterary expression. In the development of this thought Heidegger has been taught chiefly by the Greeks, by German idealism, by phenomenology, and by the scholastic theological tradition. In him these and other elements have been fused by his genius of sensitivity and intellect into a very individual philosophical expression." --William Lovitt, from the Introduction

Being and Time

Download Being and Time PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Newcomb Livraria Press
ISBN 13 : 3989882902
Total Pages : 624 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (898 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Being and Time by : Martin Heidegger

Download or read book Being and Time written by Martin Heidegger and published by Newcomb Livraria Press. This book was released on 1962 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new 2024 translation of Martin Heidegger's major work "Being and Time" (Sein und Zeit), originally published in 1927 in multiple publications. This edition contains a new afterword by the Translator, a timeline of Heidegger's life and works, a philosophic index of core Heideggerian concepts and a guide for terminology across 19th and 20th century Existentialists. This translation is designed for readability and accessibility to Heidegger's enigmatic and dense philosophy. Complex and specific philosophic terms are translated as literally as possible and academic footnotes have been removed to ensure easy reading. Being and Time presents a complex philosophical discourse on the nature of being (Sein) and time (Zeit), focusing in particular on the temporal-existentialist concept of Dasein, a term that combines the German words for "to be" (sein) and "there" (da). This classic philosophic work examines the traditional metaphysical understanding of being, arguing that this understanding, typically based on the idea of a constant presence, fails to account for the temporal and existential dimensions of being. Heidegger proposes that an understanding of being requires an analysis of Dasein, which is characterized not only by its existence, but also by its being in the world and its temporal existence. The concept of Dasein is central to the his argument, emphasizing that Dasein is always already situated in a world, and its understanding of being is shaped by its temporal existence. This perspective challenges traditional metaphysical notions of being as static and unchanging, proposing instead that being is fundamentally temporal and connected to human existence and understanding. As the title suggests, Heidegger sees the question of Being as indistinguishable from Time, arguing that Newtonian conceptions of time as a series of now-points are inadequate for understanding the being of Dasein. His Ontochronology argues that the existential and ontological analysis of Dasein reveals a more fundamental concept of time, one that is integral to the structure of Being itself. The text further elaborates on the idea of "thrownness" and several other existentialist themes. Thrownness is one of the three conditions that signifies Dasein's immersion in the world, where it finds itself already entangled in a web of relations and meanings. This "thrownness", combined with Dasein's inherent being-toward-death, underscores the existential condition of human beings, framing their existence as a continual engagement with their own finitude and the possibilities of their being. Heidegger posits that understanding the nature of being requires a fundamental rethinking of both being and time, dogmatically stating that the true nature of being can only be grasped through an understanding of the temporality that characterizes the existence of being.

Kierkegaard: The Self in Society

Download Kierkegaard: The Self in Society PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 1349266841
Total Pages : 237 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (492 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Kierkegaard: The Self in Society by : Steven Shakespeare

Download or read book Kierkegaard: The Self in Society written by Steven Shakespeare and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-07-27 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kierkegaard: The Self in Society brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines to explore Kierkegaard's continuing relevance to political and social issues. Kierkegaard is often portrayed as an out-and-out individualist with no concern for interpersonal relations. These essays not only refute this caricature, they bring out the complex nature of Kierkegaard's engagements with questions of selfhood and society. What Kierkegaard has to say about love, the church, politics and justice is shown to test the limits of what we take for granted in the modern (and postmodern) world.

Repetition and Philosophical Crumbs

Download Repetition and Philosophical Crumbs PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191607509
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (916 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Repetition and Philosophical Crumbs by : Soren Kierkegaard

Download or read book Repetition and Philosophical Crumbs written by Soren Kierkegaard and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-05-14 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'The love of repetition is in truth the only happy love' So says Constantine Constantius on the first page of Kierkegaard's Repetition. Life itself, according to Kierkegaard's pseudonymous narrator, is a repetition, and in the course of this witty, playful work Constantius explores the nature of love and happiness, the passing of time and the importance of moving forward (and backward). The ironically entitled Philosophical Crumbs pursues the investigation of faith and love and their tense relationship with reason. Written only a year apart, these two works complement each other and give the reader a unique insight into the breadth and substance of Kierkegaard's thought. The first reads like a novel and the second like a Platonic dialogue, but both engage, in different ways, the same challenging issues. These are the first translations to convey the literary quality and philosophical precision of the originals. They were not intended, however, for philosophers, but for anyone who feels drawn to the question of the ultimate truth of human existence and the source of human happiness. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

All Things are Possible

Download All Things are Possible PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Good Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 130 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (57 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis All Things are Possible by : Lev Shestov

Download or read book All Things are Possible written by Lev Shestov and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2019-11-21 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 'All Things Are Possible', Jewish Russian philosopher Lev Shestov challenges the notion of fate and necessity by embracing the philosophy of possibility and freedom. Translated by the renowned author D.H. Lawrence, Shestov's work offers a unique perspective on what it means to be human, and the struggles we face against limitations and determinisms. Shestov's rigorous examination of the human experience takes readers on a journey of self-discovery and faith, as he explores the infinite potential of the human psyche and the possibility of a new, liberating ideal.

Kierkegaard and Levinas

Download Kierkegaard and Levinas PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 0253003598
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (53 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Kierkegaard and Levinas by : J. Aaron Simmons

Download or read book Kierkegaard and Levinas written by J. Aaron Simmons and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-29 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent discussions in the philosophy of religion, ethics, and personal political philosophy have been deeply marked by the influence of two philosophers who are often thought to be in opposition to each other, SÃ ̧ren Kierkegaard and Emmanuel Levinas. Devoted expressly to the relationship between Levinas and Kierkegaard, this volume sets forth a more rigorous comparison and sustained engagement between them. Established and newer scholars representing varied philosophical traditions bring these two thinkers into dialogue in 12 sparkling essays. They consider similarities and differences in how each elaborated a unique philosophy of religion, and they present themes such as time, obligation, love, politics, God, transcendence, and subjectivity. This conversation between neighbors is certain to inspire further inquiry and ignite philosophical debate.

The Oxford Handbook of Kierkegaard

Download The Oxford Handbook of Kierkegaard PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191612103
Total Pages : 640 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (916 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Kierkegaard by : John Lippitt

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Kierkegaard written by John Lippitt and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-01-31 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Kierkegaard brings together some of the most distinguished contemporary contributors to Kierkegaard research together with some of the more gifted younger commentators on Kierkegaard's work. There is significant input from scholars based in Copenhagen's Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre, as well as from philosophers and theologians from Britain, Germany, and the United States. Part 1 presents some of the philological, historical, and contextual work that has been produced in recent years, establishing a firm basis for the more interpretative essays found in following parts. This includes looking at the history of his published and unpublished works, his cultural and social context, and his relation to Romanticism, German Idealism, the Church, the Bible, and theological traditions. Part 2 moves from context and background to the exposition of some of the key ideas and issues in Kierkegaard's writings. Attention is paid to his style, his treatment of ethics, culture, society, the self, time, theology, love, irony, and death. Part 3 looks at the impact of Kierkegaard's thought and at how it continues to influence philosophy, theology, and literature. After an examination of issues around translating Kierkegaard, this section includes comparisons with Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein, as well as examining his role in modern theology, moral theology, phenomenology, postmodernism, and literature.

Kierkegaard's God and the Good Life

Download Kierkegaard's God and the Good Life PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 0253029481
Total Pages : 295 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (53 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Kierkegaard's God and the Good Life by : Stephen Minister

Download or read book Kierkegaard's God and the Good Life written by Stephen Minister and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2017-09-11 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Collected critical essays analyzing Kierkegaard’s work in regards to theology and social-moral thought. Kierkegaard’s God and the Good Life focuses on faith and love, two central topics in Kierkegaard’s writings, to grapple with complex questions at the intersection of religion and ethics. Here, leading scholars reflect on Kierkegaard’s understanding of God, the religious life, and what it means to exist ethically. The contributors then shift to psychology, hope, knowledge, and the emotions as they offer critical and constructive readings for contemporary philosophical debates in the philosophy of religion, moral philosophy, and epistemology. Together, they show how Kierkegaard continues to be an important resource for understandings of religious existence, public discourse, social life, and how to live virtuously. “All in all, the editors of this volume have put together a thoughtful and sometimes provocative collection of essays by a number of Kierkegaard scholars and philosophers for the reader’s consideration. . . . The volume undoubtedly makes a contribution to contemporary philosophical debates in the philosophy of religion, moral philosophy, and epistemology, especially with regard to the importance of faith and love for leading a good and meaningful human life.” —International Journal for Philosophy of Religion “Invites the reader to think anew about what Kierkegaard was saying and what we can learn from him in the context of our time, particularly what it means to become a Christian in terms of the moral task of love and living a life worthy of a human being.” —Sylvia Walsh, translator of Kierkegaard’s Discourses at the Communion on Fridays

Kierkegaard and Consciousness

Download Kierkegaard and Consciousness PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400871107
Total Pages : 219 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Kierkegaard and Consciousness by : Adi Shmueli

Download or read book Kierkegaard and Consciousness written by Adi Shmueli and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-08 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kierkegaard's philosophy is the description of the structure and behavior of human consciousness. Adi Shmüeli reconstructs that philosophy by showing that it always reflects the structure in question, and thus provides a useful key to Kierkegaard's work. Mr. Shmüeli approaches his task by analyzing first the aesthetic, ethical, and religious stages of life as successive steps in the gradual awakening of consciousness. He then describes the alienation of consciousness, of which Kierkegaard speaks in all his works, and discusses Kierkegaard's theory of indirect communication, philosophical action whose aim is to awaken consciousness in order to rescue it from alienation. Studying Kierkegaard's observations on Christianity as indirect communication, Professor Shmüeli deals also with his reflections on the philosophical problem of truth. His concluding chapter discusses the temporality and historicity of human consciousness. Quotations, taken primarily from accessible English translations, are generously provided to put the reader in direct contact with Kierkegaard's own words. Originally published in 1971. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Commentary on Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript

Download Commentary on Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400858038
Total Pages : 425 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Commentary on Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript by : Niels Thulstrup

Download or read book Commentary on Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript written by Niels Thulstrup and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the first comprehensive commentary on Soren Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript the eminent Kierkegaard specialist Niels Thulstrup clarifies the book's intricate allusions to the thought and literature of its own and past ages. A central work both in Kierkegaard's authorship and in the history of philosophy, the Postscript breaks completely with a long tradition of religious and philosophical thought. In his introduction and commentary, presented here in translation from the Danish, Professor Thulstrup explains this break and the unique relationship of the work to Kierkegaard's other books. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Kierkegaard

Download Kierkegaard PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 0521877032
Total Pages : 223 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (218 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Kierkegaard by : C. Stephen Evans

Download or read book Kierkegaard written by C. Stephen Evans and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-04-09 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This clear, readable introduction to Kierkegaard presents him as a thinker with powerful answers to the questions which philosophers ask.

Anthropology and Authority

Download Anthropology and Authority PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004456163
Total Pages : 199 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (44 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Anthropology and Authority by :

Download or read book Anthropology and Authority written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2022-06-08 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume on anthropology and authority in the writings of Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) offers its reader nineteen timely discussions of two fundamental categories pertaining to the literary, philosophical, and theological production of this prominent 19th century Danish thinker, whose vast influence upon 20th century intellectual life continues to grow as the new millennium approaches. The volume's nineteen contributors - from Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, Italy, and the United States - inquire into such complex problematics in Kierkegaard's oeuvre as the interrelationship between the human, the divine, and the spiritual; between the secular and the Christian; between human and Christian love; between state and church institutions and the single individual of faith; and between this individual's concern for quality in civic and religious life and the quantitative forces of modern society's masses and crowds. Special attention is given to the indisputable authority of God, Christ, and the apostles as opposed to the debatable authority, or non-authority, of the author. Of particular interest is the nexus between Kierkegaard's existential and religious concerns, on the one hand, and his intricate textual conceptions, multifarious poetic strategies, and various means of pseudonymous and indirect communication, on the other. Between the covers of Anthropology and Authority some chapters seek to refine received knowledge of Kierkegaard in such disciplines as theology and moral philosophy. Conversely, other chapters submit rather postmodern critiques of the author's stylistic and rhetorical devices. A summary assessment of the nineteen contributions would fail to recognize this considerable methodological and theoretical diversity. Instead, the reader's access to the smorgasbord of insights has been facilitated by an introduction in which one of the American editors briefly outline the individual contributions on a general historical and intellectual background. Altogether, the probing insights of Anthropology and Authority go to the core of Søren Kierkegaard's authorship. Individual chapters either update previous responses to the many challenges presented by this work, or the chapters face new challenges and/or present critical challenges on their own.

Philosopher of the Heart

Download Philosopher of the Heart PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 13 : 0374721696
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (747 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Philosopher of the Heart by : Clare Carlisle

Download or read book Philosopher of the Heart written by Clare Carlisle and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philosopher of the Heart is the groundbreaking biography of renowned existentialist Søren Kierkegaard’s life and creativity, and a searching exploration of how to be a human being in the world. Søren Kierkegaard is one of the most passionate and challenging of all modern philosophers, and is often regarded as the founder of existentialism. Over about a decade in the 1840s and 1850s, writings poured from his pen pursuing the question of existence—how to be a human being in the world?—while exploring the possibilities of Christianity and confronting the failures of its institutional manifestation around him. Much of his creativity sprang from his relationship with the young woman whom he promised to marry, then left to devote himself to writing, a relationship which remained decisive for the rest of his life. He deliberately lived in the swim of human life in Copenhagen, but alone, and died exhausted in 1855 at the age of 42, bequeathing his remarkable writings to his erstwhile fiancée. Clare Carlisle’s innovative and moving biography writes Kierkegaard’s life as far as possible from his own perspective, to convey what it was like actually being this Socrates of Christendom—as he put it, living life forwards yet only understanding it backwards.