Philosophically, Søren Kierkegaard was the “bridge” that led from Hegel to Existentialism. Kierkegaard abhorred Hegel’s abstract, know-it-all idealism that tried to capture reality in a few words. Kierkegaard’s attack on social and religious complacency and his single-handed assault on traditional Western philosophy generated a crisis that produced a radically new way of philosophizing and made him the founder of the school that would later be called Existentialism. To Kierkegaard, reality was personal, subjective–it began and ended with the individual–and philosophy was not something one merely talked about, it was the way you lived. Kierkegaard For Beginners explains, plainly and simply, the great Danish thinker’s obsession with the particularity of human existence as well as his demonstration of how the creation of an authentic new kind of individual is possible.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging meeting with a fascinating character,
By A. Wakefield "Partial Observer" (Indian Fortress, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kierkegaard for Beginners (Writers and Readers Documentary Comic Book) (Paperback)
Palmer does a better job than is imaginable with his medium. Contrary to Anonymous Boston reader's comments, this is not a comic book - although it does have illustrations. But those illustrations add everything to the book. They are Palmer's mode of expressing wit and lightening and personalizing what is basically a philosophical book. I understand that Palmer takes this approach in many of his works; I plan to find more of them. I bought other books in the "For Beginners series" thinking they would all be this good, but Palmer's are the best book of this sort I have in my collection. This book helped stimulate me into an abiding interest in Kierkegaard's thoughts and life. As I've read more (of course, SK's writings, Lowrie's biography, and compilations like the "parables") I've found myself returning to Palmer over and over again. This book gives a compelling rendition of Kierkegaard and remains one of my favorite introductory philosophy books. A treasure - and a travesty that it is out of print. Publishers! You do us a grand disservice!
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Kierkegaard for Beginners,
By
This review is from: Kierkegaard for Beginners (Writers and Readers Documentary Comic Book) (Paperback)
This book was my introduction to this series, and overall it has whetted my appetite for more. I was skeptical about the "comic book" format (the publisher refers to this series as comic books, although I agree with another reviewer that the format is really text with illustrations), but my curiosity about how Kierkegaard's dense philosophy could be meanfully summarized so briefly got the better of me. I think the book is largely successful.Kierkegaard is difficult to understand, partly because his thought system is complex, but also because he often chose to write in what Palmer calls a "parable" format, for example espousing his views on the "aesthetic" stage by writing pseudonymous pieces in the aesthetic voice. Palmer clearly explains this device while simultaneously explaining the major tenets illuminated by the device, no mean feat of summarizing in so brief a space. He pretty well does the same with most of Kierkegaard's major ideas, which is exactly what you would hope for from a book like this. My quarrel with the book is with the illustrations and some insufficient treatment of some key ideas. The illustrations are many, they are not funny or helpful, they are distracting, patronizing and annoying. And they take up space that would have been better spent explaining more fully some points that are not made sufficiently clear. I would include most notably in the latter category a more lucid explanation of Kierkegaard's views of the subjective and objective realms and just exactly why (instead of merely that) Kierkegaard maintains that life is only fully lived when its tenuousness, or emptiness, is realized. This idea is an important link with eastern philosophies and was first introduced into Western thought by Kierkegaard. It would have been helpful to have gone a bit deeper into this core idea, and room could perhaps have been made by eliminating a fatuous "illustration" or two. I would not have been as cranky about the illustrations if they had been of the same quality as the text or as amusing as those in the "For Dummies" series. Those criticisms said, the book does manage to deftly explain, in very accessible summary fashion, the principal ideas of this rather inaccessible but important thinker. Even the ideas that are not as thoroughly treated as one would have liked (even in so concise a summary) are at least mentioned, and the reader is referred to the work, and even page number, where Kierkegaard sets them forth. My interest in this series is to read summaries of the work of thinkers I am curious about but whose principal works I may never quite get to. I decided to test the series by starting with this book, because I actually have read most of Kierkegaard. I'm more impressed than I thought I would be, and I will try some more in the series.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Density Dispersed to Common Ground,
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This review is from: Kierkegaard for Beginners (Writers and Readers Documentary Comic Book) (Paperback)
I always found Kierkegaards work archaic in language and dense in thought. However, this book helped me work through that in laying the underpinning's of Kierkegaards philosophy in a soft tangible style that is easy for anyone to grasp and enjoy. Perhaps this book will not propel everyone to investigate further into his works, however it will leave the reader satisfied that one has some base knowledge at hand. Donald Palmer gives a nice presentation of Kierkegaard's work and life from birth to death, which adds to the understanding of Kierkegaards philosophy. Definately reccomended to the beginning student of existentialism and Kierkegaard.
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