The Routledge Guidebook to Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling

John Lippitt

Oct 2015 · Routledge

About this ebook

Søren Kierkegaard is one of the key figures of nineteenth century thought, whose influence on subsequent philosophy, theology and literature is both extensive and profound. Fear and Trembling, which investigates the nature of faith through an exploration of the story of Abraham and Isaac, is one of Kierkegaard’s most compelling and widely read works. It combines an arresting narrative, an unorthodox literary structure and a fascinating account of faith and its relation to ‘the ethical’.

The Routledge Guidebook to Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling introduces and assesses:

• Kierkegaard’s life and the background to Fear and Trembling, including aspects of its philosophical and theological context
• The text and key ideas of Fear and Trembling, including the details of its account of faith and its connection to trust and hope
• The book’s reception history, the diversity of interpretations it has been given and its continuing interest and importance

This Guidebook assumes no previous knowledge of Kierkegaard's work and will be essential reading for anyone studying the most famous text of this important thinker.

About the author

John Lippitt is Professor of Ethics and Philosophy of Religion at the University of Hertfordshire, UK and Honorary Professor of Philosophy at Deakin University, Australia. He is the author of Kierkegaard and the Problem of Self-Love (2013) and Humour and Irony in Kierkegaard’s Thought (2000), as well as co-editor of Narrative, Identity and the Kierkegaardian Self (2015) and The Oxford Handbook of Kierkegaard (2013).