Isolated Self

K. Brian Soderquist

ISBN 10: 8763540657 / ISBN 13: 9788763540650

Published by Museum Tusculanum Press, 2013

About this Item

Spuren von Feuchtigkeit / Nässe; Leichte Rillen / Abschürfungen / Risse / Knicke. While many studies of On the Concept of Irony treat Kierkegaard's "irony" primarily from a literary perspective,The Isolated Self also examines irony with an eye to the fundamental problem in Kierkegaard's authorship, namely, the challenge of becoming a "self." Kierkegaard's "irony" is a cavalier way of life that seeks isolation from the other - an isolation he considers necessary to becoming a self. At the same time, irony is said to be a hindrance to selfhood because the self fails to become a part of the social world in which it resides. The Isolated Self thus puts the existential tension of On the Concept of Irony into relief and suggests how it sets the stage for the rest of Kierkegaard's authorship. The Isolated Self reconstructs the horizon of understanding during Kierkegaard's time, including Hegel's interpretation of both Socratic irony and Friedrich Schlegel's romantic irony. In addition, the work explores material from the little-known Danish discussion of irony in the works of Poul Martin Møller, Johan Ludvig Heiberg and Hans Lassen Martensen.

Seller Inventory # bda22cf8-3b64-4ce8-873d-605f7516076b

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Isolated Self
• Publisher: Museum Tusculanum Press
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8763540657
• ISBN 13: 9788763540650
• Binding: Softcover
• Condition: Fair
• Seller catalogs:
  • Philosophy

About this title

Synopsis

Often overlooked by Kierkegaard scholars, On the Concept of Irony—Kierkegaard’s dissertation—is in fact a foundational text that established some of Kierkegaard’s most important ideas on the self. In The Isolated Self, K. Brian Soderquist restores this important work to its proper place, offering a rare full-length study of the text that shows how and why Kierkegaard would return to the ideas he developed there throughout his entire career.

            
Thoroughly examining On the Concept of Irony, Soderquist uncovers the most comprehensive account of the “double movement” that is so important in Kierkegaard’s later works. Hinging on irony, the double movement describes the way existence pushes us to move from an immediate, unreflective life toward a self-developed worldview. Soderquist bores into this notion of irony, reconstructing the way it was conceived in Kierkegaard’s time by analyzing its use by related thinkers such as Hegel, Friedrich Schlegel, Johan Ludvig Heiberg, Hans Lassen Martensen, and Poul Martin Møller. Altogether Soderquist shows how Kierkegaard’s concept of irony, as demonstrated in this very early work, is crucial to understanding his pivotal thoughts on selfhood. 

About the Author

K. Brian Soderquist is a lecturer in the faculty of theology at the University of Copenhagen. He is coeditor of Kierkegaard’s Journals and Notebooks.