Fear and Trembling (Penguin Classics)
by Soren Kierkegaard
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.78 You Save: $8.22 (59%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.86 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Fear and Trembling (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: a penetrating look at the nature of faith
Summary: 4 Stars
Soren Kierkegaard's works are notably difficult to read. Fear and Trembling is perhaps the least formidable in comparison. Still, in this book some knowledge of Hegelian philosophy/ terminology and Greek mythology is almost indispensable in understanding him aright. Words like 'ethical', 'universal' are not to be taken in the contemporary sense. They have specific meanings given by Hegel referring more or less to what conforms to cultural norms and in Kierkegaard's milieu to its middle class morality. It is this sort of 'universal ethic' that he wants to separate from bona fide Christian faith.
Abraham's famous act of faith in offering his son, Isaac to be sacrificed at the behest of God is a supreme example of what Christian ethic is all about - not a simple conformity to what is generally accepted by human society but a radical obedience to divine commands that may at times fly in the face of the prevailing sensibilities. This is what is meant by the famous line that Abraham's act was 'a teleological suspension of the ethical'.
Kierkegaard here writes through his pseudonymous author, Johannes de Silentio (John of Silence, who is anything but silent!) who seeks to penetrate the mystery of faith with his rational mind. He succeeds for the most part in describing faith by saying what it is not; the knight of faith can be reduced to neither the knight of infinite resignation nor the tragic hero (eg. Agamemnon in Greek mythology). It stands as a class of its own - and this is the radical call of faith, which even the articulate Johannes has no words to positively explicate, save that it is a 'marvel', a 'miracle'. Many are mistaken to see this as a blind leap or a mindless choice. It is better to see faith, from SK's point of view, as a supra-rational act, or better still a gift that is wrought by God. Yet, it is a faith that does not come cheap. It is as the author says, 'faith was a task for a whole lifetime, not a skill to be acquired in a matter of weeks or days.'
I would recommend this to any reader with an intellectual and religious bent and for the reflective Christians who are wondering what to make of his faith. Not an easy read but rewarding to those who plough at it, preferably with some help.
Book Review: Makes a philosopher weak in the knees
Summary: 5 Stars
FEAR AND TREMBLING stands as one of Soren Kierkegaard's most widely read works. It's brevity is appealing to those with only a marginal interest in philosophy and theology. It's subject matter is what attracts those persons who want to find a nexus between ethics and theology.In the work, Kierkegaard engages the famous passage in the Old Testament of the bible where Abraham is ordered by God (Yahweh) to sacrifice his son, Isaac. It stands today as the most salient episode in the bible where Plato's EUTHYPHRO dillema is confronted.
Now, what is the EUTHYPHRO dillema, you may ask? The dillema is set out by Socrates in Plato's dialouge of the same name. Basically, it comes down to this: are good and evil intrinsic to the universe itself? Or are the qualities of good and evil decided upon by God (or gods)? If the former is true, then God (or the head of a pantheon of gods) cannot be truly omnipotent, for there is at least one power that even he / she / it must follow. If, on the other hand, good and evil are decided by God(s), then might makes right.
Enter Kierkegaard, who spends the pages of this work acting more-or-less as a defense attorney for Abraham for his even contemplating the murder of his son. For Kierkegaard, the divine-command-theorist, the latter horn of the conundrum (i.e.: might makes right) is the only plausible alternative open for the religious believer. The first horn denies God's sovereign omnipotence over the universe and all of its affairs, which is utterly unacceptable.
So, the Dane offers to us the defense of what he calls the "teleological suspension of ethics." That is to say, while Abraham was acting out of direction from God, he was not subject to the ethical laws of the "everyday" universe that the rest of us live in every day.
That, in brief, is the topic that this book considers. For the complete explanation and polemics of his views, this book is highly recommended. That the subject matter of FEAR AND TREMBLING greatly disturbed Kierkegaard becomes readily obvious in the first pages. If the arguments presented are examined carefully, it is a topic whose implications may very well shock the modern-day theologian as well.
Book Review: Johannes de silentio is anything but
Summary: 5 Stars
The ironic pen-name Kierkegaard uses should be more than enough warning that things aren't necessarily what they seem, so if anyone tells you what this book is about, or what Kierkegaard intended, I suggest you take it with a grain of salt, read this book, and decide for yourself.Students of Kierkegaard will tell you the meaning of this book in terms of his personal life; philosophers will show you its philosophical meaning; the religious will describe it as a treatise on faith. It is probably all of these, and may be even more. The work centers on the exemplary life of Abraham, in particular the story in which he is asked by God to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac - the son given to him as fulfillment of a promise by God himself. This story is fully worthy of the "fear and trembling" the title expects, but it also serves as an archetypal example of faith itself, in uncompromising terms.
It is also a counter-argument against the (in Kierkegaard's view) stifling moral rationalism of Hegel - an argument "on the strength of the absurd" which is nonetheless compelling, even if one were to ultimately reject it. Considering this, it is perhaps fitting that his work - certainly grave and severe - ultimately provides an affirmation of individual self-determination and a wholehearted engagement with the real world and its affairs... a faith which Kierkegaard professed himself incapable of.
Worth the time of reading once or several times. Poetic, but not lighthearted entertainment - then again, who would read a book titled "Fear and Trembling" on a lark?
Book Review: Analysis of Abraham's faith will bring back the awe.
Summary: 4 Stars
There is much I do not understand here. If I can make a weak attempt to grasp the obvious, it is that while Abraham is to be admired for his faith, it is a faith which cannot possibly be understood by anyone other than himself in an ultimate sense. Kierkegaard is writing in an age of Hegelian hegemony, and he must constantly describe his thoughts in relation to the dialectic, where the universal or ethical holds complete intellectual rule over the absolute or individual standards of right and wrong. His many historical and legendary analogies - which might have helped his contemporary readers understand the concepts of faith as going beyond total resignation to stand on the strength of the absurd - are to some degree lost on the less literate like myself in the late 20th century. Much is made of the tragic hero and the sharp distinction between his simple appeal to the duty of the universal ethic and Abraham's case in which no amount of ethical conjuring could make God's demand justified or righteous to anyone other than Abraham as an individual. Furthermore, the faith which uniquely makes Abraham's actions righteous is precisely the point he could not have conveyed in words, and any attempt would have minimized or nullified the action of faith. Paradox and the dialectic are very key to his discussion and a solid understanding of both is recommended. Even without those, however, this book will deepen your awe of God's demand and Abraham's faith as it challenges your understanding of your own faith.Book Review: Provocative but flawed
Summary: 4 Stars
Essential reading for anyone with the slightest interest in religion or philosophy. He makes an important point: faith cannot be collapsed into the ethical, taking the Old Testament story of Abraham's aborted sacrifice of Isaac as his proof text. If faith was simply a matter of acting ethically, then we wouldn't need religion, only ethics. That said, I don't like how he makes faith into something so superhuman and difficult that only a few spiritual athletes are capable of it. Which is wrong. Christian faith is available to anyone. Christ said, "come unto me all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." And I don't believe that faith contradicts ethics either, as Kierkegaard suggests. Kierkegaard's message was to a largely Christian society that took faith for granted. He wanted to bring out the radicality of faith, which is a valuable message. But today, when Christian Churches are losing members, we need the evangelical message, to bring people in. Faith is first of all an expression of love for God and our fellow humans, not a leap into the absurd. Kierkegaard used to appeal to me more when I was younger, and I liked the idea of viewing my faith as something radical and even scandalous. Now that I'm more mature, I realize that faith is really about loving and trusting God and loving my neighbor as myself. Yes, there's a sacrifice involved; Kierkegaard is right about that, but trusting God means trusting his goodness and love.