Kierkegaardian Phenomenologies

J. Aaron Simmons is professor of philosophy at Furman University.Jeffrey Hanson is senior philosopher in the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University.Wojciech Kaftanski is postdoctoral fellow in the Interdisciplinary Center for Ethics at Jagiellonian University and a research affiliate in the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University.

The editors of this volume have assembled an impressive array of Kierkegaard scholars to cover the important issue of his relation to phenomenology, aware that the movement did not emerge as a discrete methodology until 50 years after his death with the thought of Husserl. In the introduction, the editors carefully situate the interface between these two areas of scholarship. They examine constructively what avenues might open up for current phenomenological debates if they were studied through the lens of key components of Kierkegaard’s thinking. The essays in this volume center on four topic areas: "Phenomenological Explorations," which compares Kierkegaard's use of metaphysical topics, such as necessity and contingency, to the same concepts in phenomenology; "Hearing and Seeing," which focuses on his phenomenological foundations in sensation and emotions; "Rethinking Faith and Despair," which shows the prescience of his concept of despair for what emerges in later phenomenology; and finally "New Phenomenology," which shows the relevance of his use of givenness, dispossession, and existence for recent phenomenologists such as Jean-Luc Marion, Jean-Yves Lacoste, and Michel Henry. Highly recommended as an accessible text that would serve a broad array of readers in both phenomenology and Kierkegaard scholarship. Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

• AcknowledgmentsSigla for Kierkegaard WorksIntroduction by J. Aaron Simmons, Jeffrey Hanson, and Wojciech KaftnaskiPart One: Phenomenological Explorations Chapter 1: Kierkegaard: A Kind of Transcendental Phenomenologist, by Merold WestphalChapter 2: Kierkegaard’s Proto-Phenomenological Reduction of the Self, by Wojciech KaftanskiPart Two: On Hearing and SeeingChapter 3: Listening to the Word: A Kierkegaardian Phenomenology of Hearing, by Amber BowenChapter 4: Hearing the Word of God: Husserl, Heidegger, and Kierkegaard on God and Conscience, by Steven DeLayChapter 5: A Phenomenological Account of Kierkegaard’s Stages, by Eleanor HelmsPart Three: Rethinking Faith and DespairChapter 6: What Is It Like to Be a Despairer?, by Sharon KrishekChapter 7: The Single Individual: Phenomenology and Kierkegaard’s Subjectivity of Faith, by René RosfortChapter 8: Kierkegaard and Fanon on Hegel: Does a Shared Critique of Hegel Suggest Decolonial Possibilities for a Kierkegaardian Christian Faith—or Not?, by Chris BoeselPart Four: Kierkegaard and New Phenomenology Chapter 9: Is it Possible to Consider God as a Possibility?: On Marion’s Reduction, Lacoste’s Irreducible Phenomenon, and Kierkegaard’s Perforated Self, by Thomas J. MillayChapter 10: The Problem of Existence and the Intimacy of Being: Issues and Perspectives, by Joaquim Hernandez-DispauxChapter 11: The Weapons of the Weaker: Gaining Patience with Henry, Chrétien, and Kierkegaard, by J. Aaron SimmonsAbout the Contributors