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For Self-Examination and Judge for Yourselves!
For Self-Examination and its companion piece Judge for Yourself! are the culmination of Soren Kierkegaard's "second authorship," which followed his Concluding Unscientific Postscript. Among the simplest and most readily comprehended of Kierkegaard's books, the two works are part of the signed direct communications, as distinguished from his earlier pseudonymous writings. The lucidity and pithiness and earnestness and power, of For Self-Examination and Judge for Yourself! are enhanced when, as Kierkegaard requested, they are read aloud. They contain the well-known passsages on Socrates' defense speech, how to read, the lover's letter, the royal coachman and the carriage team, and the painter's relation to his painting.
The aim of awakening and inward deepening is signaled by the opening section on Socrates in For Self-Examination and is pursued in the context of the relations of Christian ideality, grace, and response. The secondary aim, a critique of the established order, links the works to the final polemical writings that appear later after a four-year period of silence.
Originally published in 1944.
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.
The aim of awakening and inward deepening is signaled by the opening section on Socrates in For Self-Examination and is pursued in the context of the relations of Christian ideality, grace, and response. The secondary aim, a critique of the established order, links the works to the final polemical writings that appear later after a four-year period of silence.
Originally published in 1944.
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.
320 pages, ebook
Published April 30, 2019
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July 3, 2020
Like all of SK — you either “love him” or “hate him”
I have re-read an older translation first published in the early 40s by Walter Lowrie and containing a short discourse translated by David Swenson — these were two of the pioneering translators who brought SK to the attention of the English speaking readership.
There are more recent translations of this work that a new reader may prefer since SK’s prolix, dialectical style (at times difficult to follow) sometimes does not translate well into English, and these translations use a style of English more appropriate to early and mid 20th century usage.
These works were published by SK when he published TRAINING IN CHRISTIANITY in 1851 (Lowrie in his preface muses on how he — Lowrie — thought of publishing his translations of these works all together in one big volume).
Certainly, read TRAINING IN CHRISTIANITY first to more appreciate what SK is doing.
This volume that I have just finished contains three short discourses and two longer ones (the second one actually published in 1875 by his brother — 20 yrs after SK’s death in 1855.
The themes are what dominates his works in his later years (especially after 1847 though they are clearly present in the more well known writings that he began publishing in 1843) — the “true” essence of Christianity, it’s perversion by current culture and church (Christendom), the call for each “solitary individual “ in “inwardness” to radically commit to these truths and in outward action manifest this commitment — no matter what the “worldly cost”.
I have re-read an older translation first published in the early 40s by Walter Lowrie and containing a short discourse translated by David Swenson — these were two of the pioneering translators who brought SK to the attention of the English speaking readership.
There are more recent translations of this work that a new reader may prefer since SK’s prolix, dialectical style (at times difficult to follow) sometimes does not translate well into English, and these translations use a style of English more appropriate to early and mid 20th century usage.
These works were published by SK when he published TRAINING IN CHRISTIANITY in 1851 (Lowrie in his preface muses on how he — Lowrie — thought of publishing his translations of these works all together in one big volume).
Certainly, read TRAINING IN CHRISTIANITY first to more appreciate what SK is doing.
This volume that I have just finished contains three short discourses and two longer ones (the second one actually published in 1875 by his brother — 20 yrs after SK’s death in 1855.
The themes are what dominates his works in his later years (especially after 1847 though they are clearly present in the more well known writings that he began publishing in 1843) — the “true” essence of Christianity, it’s perversion by current culture and church (Christendom), the call for each “solitary individual “ in “inwardness” to radically commit to these truths and in outward action manifest this commitment — no matter what the “worldly cost”.
Displaying 1 of 1 review