This entire selection is just fragments of larger works. We will
not be able to completely reconstruct his theory just from these fragments
alone. In class, we will get complete the picture and see whether Kierkegaard's
critique is right. But to get the most out of these readings as I have
presented them, you will be best to read this as a contrast passage.
That is, read it as a passage that tries to distinguish between two
main things throughout. He will attach different concepts onto these
two and try to match the new concepts onto these two. It's not something
I expect everybody be able to do, but it will help you to answer the homework
questions easier.
"The Present Age"
Given that this was written in the mid-19th century, what do you think
is Kierkegaard's primary target here? Come back to this section after
you have finished reading the article and ask yourself what role do you think
this part of the article serves.
"On Becoming a Christian"
As Socrates tried to revise the way Athenians thought (see the beginning
of our syllabus), so Kierkegaard tries to revise the way people believe.
Your homework assignment is based on this portion of the article. You
will have to define three terms--using your own words--but be careful to
try and find all usages of each term in the article. In other words,
don't be too hasty to define them: collect all the bits of evidence from
the article and at the end define them. We will use each term in class
to re-construct Kierkegaard's argument in a clear form. Answer questions
1-4 in one or two sentences. Question 5 should take a paragraph.
Question #1: What is the absurd?
Question #2: What is faith?
Question #3: What is to know (as opposed to believe)?
Question #4: How does he demonstrate that proving God is a mockery?
In other words, what strategy does he employ to prove his conclusion?
Question #5: The hardest homework question so far this semester:
What does Kierkegaard mean when he says "To stand on one leg and prove
God's existence is a very different thing from going on one's knees and
thanking Him." To answer this completely, try to figure out what is
symbolized by standing on one leg. Hmmm.
