Two Upbuilding Discourses (1843)
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''Two Upbuilding Discourses'' is a book by
Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...
published in 1843.


History

Kierkegaard published ''Two Upbuilding Discourses'' three months after '' Either/Or'', which ended without a conclusion to the argument between A, the
aesthete Aestheticism (also known as the aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century that valued the appearance of literature, music, fonts and the arts over their functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be produced to b ...
, and B, the ethicist, as to which is the best way to live one's life. In 1832,
Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...
argued against Christianity by saying that knowledge is not something hurtful to faith but helpful. He says philosophy (the love of knowledge) "has the same content as religion." This is due, in part, to the efforts of " Anselm and
Abelard Peter Abelard (12 February 1079 – 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, teacher, musician, composer, and poet. This source has a detailed description of his philosophical work. In philo ...
, who further developed the essential structure of faith" in the Middle Ages. ''Upbuilding'' was translated as ''Edifying'' in 1946 when David F. Swenson first translated them. They became ''Upbuilding Discourses'' in Howard V. Hong's translation of 1990.


Structure

The first two discourses are titled: #"The Expectancy of Faith" #"Every Good and Every Perfect Gift is From Above"


Reception

Kierkegaard sold 200 copies of the Discourses and only one editor reviewed it. ''Either/Or'' was reviewed by both
Meïr Aron Goldschmidt Meïr Aron Goldschmidt (October 26, 1819 – August 15, 1887) was a Danish publisher, journalist and novelist. He was the founding editor of the satirical and political magazine '' Corsaren''. Biography Goldschmidt was born in Vordingborg, ...
and Johan Ludvig Heiberg. The Two Discourses had to wait until 1927 to be noticed and was not translated into English until 1946, when David F. Swenson translated the eighteen discourses and published them in four volumes. Hong later translated and compiled them in 1990 into one volume.


Criticism

Walter Lowrie said the Two Discourses were an "either/or" meant for
Regine Olsen Regine Schlegel (née Olsen; 23 January 1822 – 18 March 1904) was a Danish woman who was engaged to the philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard from September 1840 to October 1841. Biography Early years and engagement to Kierkegaard O ...
. His general approach to the discourses was how they related to the outer aspects of Kierkegaard's life; especially his relationship with Olsen. He also mentions that his ''Upbuilding Discourses'' were "tardily translated" by the Germans "for the sake of completing the edition". "Therefore, since these works were not available to students the pseudonyms works were not rightly understood."A Short Life of Kierkegaard, by Walter Lowrie, p. 197


References


Sources


Primary sources


''Two Upbuilding Discourses, 1843''
Swenson translation
''Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses''
by Søren Kierkegaard, Princeton University Press. Hong, 1990 * ''Either/Or Part I'', Edited by Victor Eremita, February 20, 1843, translated by David F. Swenson and Lillian Marvin Swenson Princeton University Press 1971 * ''Either/Or Part 2'', Edited by Victor Eremita, February 20, 1843, Hong 1987 * ''Fear and Trembling''; Copyright 1843 Søren Kierkegaard – Kierkegaard’s Writings; 6 – copyright 1983 – Howard V. Hong * ''Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments'' Volume I, by Johannes Climacus, edited by Søren Kierkegaard, Copyright 1846 – Edited and Translated by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong 1992 Princeton University Press * ''The Point of View for My Work as An Author: A Report to History'', edited by Benjamin Neilson, by Søren Kierkegaard 1848, Translated with Introductory Notes by Walter Lowrie, 1962, Harper and Row Publishers *''The Sickness Unto Death'', by Anti-Climacus, Edited by Søren Kierkegaard, Copyright 1849 Translation with an Introduction and notes by Alastair Hannay 1989


Secondary sources

*''Lectures on the philosophy of religion, together with a work on the proofs of the existence of God,'' Vol 1, Translated from the 2d German ed. by E.B. Speirs, and J. Burdon Sanderson: the translation edited by E.B. Speirs (1895) Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1832 *''Søren Kierkegaard'', A Biography, by Johannes Hohlenberg, Translated by T.H. Croxall, Pantheon Books 1954 * Hunt,George Laird, * ''A Short Life of Kierkegaard'', by Walter Lowrie, Princeton University Press, 1942, 1970


Online sources


A Selection from ''Two Upbuilding Discourses'' 1843
Free Audio *Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews


External links

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Richard Bauckham Richard John Bauckham (; born 22 September 1946) is an English Anglican scholar in theology, historical theology and New Testament studies, specialising in New Testament Christology and the Gospel of John. He is a senior scholar at Ridley H ...
br>''In the Mirror of God's Word: Kierkegaard and the Epistle of James''
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