K. E. Løgstrup – författare

The Ethical Demand (1956) by K. E. Løgstrup is one of the great works of modern moral philosophy: it is presented here in a new translation with introduction and notes. Løgstrup puts forward his distinctive view concerning our vulnerability to each other and what this requires of us in response. He starts by considering Jesus's 'proclamation' to love your neighbour and how this can be understood in 'purely human terms' as relating to basic features of our existence. Reflecting on the phenomenon of trust, Løgstrup emphasizes the fundamental interdependence of human life and how this gives rise to an 'ethical demand' on us to care for the other, which he characterizes as radical, silent, one-sided, and unfulfillable. In order to make sense of a demand of this sort, Løgstrup argues, we must see 'life as a gift', rather than treating ourselves as the sovereign grounds for our own existence. He contrasts this demand to social norms, which are often reciprocal in this way, and argues that while such norms are changeable, the ethical demand itself is absolute. Løgstrup therefore makes a fundamental contribution to our understanding of the nature of-and basis for-our obligations to each other. In this critical edition, Løgstrup's original text is accurately rendered into readable English and paired with an introduction which explains the main themes and wider context of the work.

The great Danish philosopher and theologian K. E. Løgstrup (1905-81) offers a distinctive assessment and comparative critique of two key thinkers in Kierkegaard's and Heidegger's Analysis of Existence and its Relation to Proclamation (1950). Løgstrup focuses on the central idea from Kierkegaard and Heidegger that our individuality and authenticity are threatened by 'life in the crowd' or 'das Man'. According to Løgstrup, Kierkegaard holds that the only way to escape the crowd is through a relation to an infinite demand which he nonetheless leaves empty, while Heidegger avoids offering any kind of ethics at all. Arguing against both philosophers, Løgstrup himself proposes an ethic which is not just a set of social rules, but which is also more contentful than Kierkegaard's infinite demand: namely, the requirement to care for the other person whose life is placed in your hands. This call to care for the other person becomes central to Løgstrup's position in his most famous publication The Ethical Demand (1956), so this earlier work, based on lectures given in Berlin, provides a crucial insight into the development of his thought. This is the first English translation of an original and compelling text by Løgstrup, rendered into accurate prose and paired with an introduction which explains the main themes and wider context of the work.

This is the first English edition of a major work by the Danish philosopher and theologian K. E. Løgstrup (1905-81). It is the culmination of his critical engagement with Kierkegaardianism, which had begun almost 20 years earlier. In this text, Løgstrup focuses on four main themes in Kierkegaard: his understanding of Christ and thus of Christianity; his understanding of suffering in human existence; Christian vs. secular ethics; and Platonistic influences on Kierkegaard's position, which Løgstrup characterises as nihilistic.Løgstrup presents his own alternative conception in response: that Christ revealed universal ontological ethical structures that put Christians and non-Christians on a par; that suffering is a basic human experience and so there is no such thing as a particular Christian suffering; that sovereign expressions of life such as trust, sincerity, and compassion are the fundamental phenomena of ethics that enable our lives to function, and are thus given as a gift of creation, not of faith; and finally that human existence as created is meaningful and holds value and so is not a Kierkegaardian 'nothingness' of mere relativity. As well as offering a classic and yet controversial critique of Kierkegaard, this text also develops Løgstrup's conception of the sovereign expressions of life, which was to become central to his later ethics, further deepening his distinctive understanding of the human condition. Here translated in full for the first time, it will now be possible for English-speaking readers to explore the issues that drew Løgstrup into his controversion with Kierkegaard.