Patrick Gardiner Knihy

Scholars have largely misunderstood Soren Kierkegaard, remembering him chiefly in connection with the development of existentialist philosophy in this century. In a short and unhappy life, he wrote many books and articles on literary, satirical, religious and psychological themes, but the diversity and idiosyncratic style of his writing have contributed to a misunderstanding of his ideas. In this book--the only introduction to the full range of Kierkegaard's thought--Patrick Gardiner demonstrates how Kierkegaard developed his ideas and examines his thoughts in light of the doctrines on society developed by his contemporaries Marx and Feuerbach. Finally, he assesses the profound importance of Kierkegaard's ideas on the development of modern ways of thinking.

Eight of the nine pieces in The Sense of Reality are published here for the first time. The range is characteristically wide: realism in history; the history of socialism; the radical cultural revolution instigated by romanticism; The title essay, starting from the impossibility of recreating a bygone epoch, provides a superb centrepiece.