52 pages • 1 hour read
Howard V. Hong, Edna H. Hong, Søren KierkegaardConcluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments, Volume 1
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1992A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Book 2, Part 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 2: “The Subjective Problem,” Part 1: “Something About Lessing”
Book 2, Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis: “An Expression of Gratitude”
This chapter is something of a digression, although related to the larger themes of the book. Kierkegaard declares his admiration for the German Enlightenment philosopher Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781). For Kierkegaard, Lessing possessed a “religious sensibility” that allowed him to recognize the religious as a distinct category. He knew the secret of subjectivity and how to “withdraw himself” and engage in independent thinking instead of codifying his thought into a system filled with jargon and catchwords. Unfortunately, Lessing’s works have been “left behind” by the progress of systematic philosophy, which Kierkegaard likens to a speeding train (a brand-new technology at the time Kierkegaard was writing).
Kierkegaard brings Lessing into the argument as a past thinker who exemplifies a proper understanding of the religious, in contrast to many thinkers of Kierkegaard’s day. He will continue to expound Lessing’s thought in the ensuing chapter.
Book 2, Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis: “Theses Possibly or Actually Attributable to Lessing”
Kierkegaard lists and discusses propositions attributable to Lessing that are relevant to the argument of the Postscript.
1. The objective thinker treats truth as abstract and indifferent to the existence of thinking individuals. The subjective thinker, by contrast, is aware of themself as a thinking subject and concentrates on building an inward life.
