Customer Reviews

The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition For Upbuilding And Awakening (Kierkegaard's Writings, Vol 19) (v. 19)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

_The Sickness Unto Death_ is a good place to start reading Kierkegaard. It is shorter than most of his works, and provides a good overview of his most important concepts. One such concept is man's intense desire to understand or somehow obtain proof of the existence of God. Because of our intense fear of death, we are constantly seeking out ways to relieve our doubt concerning the immortality of the soul. Kierkegaard examines this death-drive with remarkable insight, stating that it is in some ways noble, but in other ways is a gross imposition upon God, and a disrespect for God's privacy. In one passage, Kierkegaard suggests that we seek out reasons to experience despair simply in order to drag God across hot coals; that is, in order for us to reach a satisfactory understanding of the existence and/or goodness of God, we have a tendency to go out of our way to find reasons NOT to believe in God. Sometimes these reasons consist in outward examples of atrocities and widespread acts of destructive evil. Other times our despair is of a more inward form, in which we seek to disprove God because of our own shortcomings in avoiding sin. In other words, if we are evil, and consider ourselves to be abnormally bad sinners, we have a vested interest in disproving God; because of our fear of punishment, the existence of God runs counter to our best interests. On the other side of the spectrum, Kierkegaard portrays the more virtuous type of faith as one that avoids higher levels of understanding. Considering the over-abundance in this world of acts we percieve to be evil, it stands to reason that God does not WANT to be fully understood. On page 98, Kierkegaard states: "Is it such great merit or is it not rather insolence or thoughtlessness to want to comprehend that which does not want to be comprehended?" On p.38 he states: "to believe is indeed to lose the understanding in order to gain God". All of this is not to say that Kierkegaard is an anti-intellectual or nihilist. Kierkegaard, who once admitted that he "gropes for the tragic in every direction" in a perverse and convoluted desire to "see" God, is just as guilty as anyone of this "imposition" upon God. His intention is simply bringing to light the dynamics of our strange tendencies to unearth the tragic and the role of death and fear in propelling our desire to understand God. Kierkegaard is not judgemental or admonishing in his treatment of these natural human drives towards knowledge; he just wants to enlighten us on why we act the way we do, and what are the inner springs of our creativity and curiosity. The sources of these creative drives do not always present a pretty picture, but Kierkegaard is honest with himself and with the reader in exposing the dark forces underlying our seemingly innocent intellectual curiosity.

Overall I highly recommend this book to all readers, especially those wanting to get a brief overview of some of Kierkegaard's most important ideas. It is also an excellent precursor to _The Concept of Anxiety_, which picks up where this one left off.

In sum, Kierkegaard shows that despair is the inability to live with oneself. We all experience depression, disappointment, and anxiety rooted in the identities we strive to establish apart from the one we were meant to have in God. Therefore, there is no greater truth to eradicate despair than this: that God has made us for relationship with Himself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him. Only when a person relies on his perfect relationship with God, and not his imperfect relationship with his parents, his society, his friends, as the sole criterion for the worth of his soul will he find rest from despair.

With the many words of review of Kierkegaard, I thought a few should be written in honor of the Hongs, who have render such clear translations. Some of the difficulties of understanding SK are not because of his writing style or the nature of the concepts he was communicating, but less than poetic translations of his work.

The Hongs have remedied that, so now we merely have to contend with what SK had to say. I for one am grateful for their contribution.

Based on Kierkegaard's book, it is clear that despair is essential for a person to realize he is not a "self," and thereby turn to God; but many people choose to create a self on their own-they become a carbon copy of everyone else in the world. I was intrigued by Kierkegaard's insights. From what I understood, there are two possibilities a person can have: (1) There is the possibility of becoming the self that God intended for the person, or (2) The alternate possibility when one manufactures a "self" then for the rest of his or her life, strives to attain it. The "fantastic" is the result of one's idea of self that is always being improved and refined from the previous "self." However, a person can only have a self if God gives it to him or her. The "sickness unto death" is when the person does not realize this until he or she faces death and had lived a life in sin (sin was explained as the spiritual and actual position of a person in comparison to God).

The person had a chance to live in "actuality," but instead was in despair and now is left with the "sickness unto death." Kierkegaard offered an insight to the human soul that ought to be the foundation to understanding the psyche of the Christian. His work is still relevant, and had probably ushered the Christian psychology movement into existence. It would be safe to say that he is a "founding father" of Christian psychology and was a very observant man. This book is not easy to read, but it is worth the effort.

It doesn't often happen that you can feel reading a book changing your world-view. I can remember the first time I read "Sickness Unto Death" and suddenly commercials sounded different. It's a simple Either/or: either you are part of the problem or you are part of the solution. Either you are moving, and, whether you know it or not we are all moving, in one direction or the other. The opposite of "faith" is not "doubt," for "doubt" can a moment within faith. The opposite of "faith" is "despair." Despair is the "Sickness Unto Death," and there is no other real death. All else is temporary, but despair is eternal. The great dialectian draws out and describes the variety and etiology of despair in a language he describes as "algebraic" (that is, spare, formulaic, a prime example is the famous opening paragraph with its comic parody of Hegel (he's pulling your leg at the same time he is deadly serious. That's SK)). You may find this language hard to deal with, but it is worth it to stick with it.

As a student at St. Olaf College, I got Kierkegaard pretty much thrown at me. The professors Hong translations of Kierkegaard are the most erudite I've seen. They own the largest Kierkegaard library in the world... They know their stuff. It's definitely worth the extra money over and against the penguin translation.

"The self is a self which relates itself to itself or is a relation relating itself to itself in the relation."
Don't get too flummoxed by the first page, it gets better.

One thing I like about Kierkegaard is that he knows how to WRITE. Other philosophers lose common literary skills that make writing enjoyable, for example, Kant. You cannot sit down and read 200 pages of a Critique of Pure reason straight, your head will explode. With Kierkegaard however, he is so enjoyable and fun to read, you hardly notice your're reading philosophy.

This book however, I wouldn't recommend to beginners, I'd choose either "Either/Or" or "The two ages"

This was my first Kierkegaard book, and I can't imagine it'll ever not be my favorite. This should be everyone's introduction to him. It's short, sweet, beautiful, encouraging, exotic, convicting, brutal, and funny.

Written by Anti-Climacus, K's very idealized Christian author who always does his best to expose externalisms in the lives of human beings--both Christians and pagans.

I'm not going to get into a major discussion of this book here; you can do that on your own or peruse some of the other reviews on this page. I will, however, give a very cursory sketch of _some_ of his great ideas.

1. It is written from an unabashedly orthodox Christian standpoint (orthodox meaning Apostles Creed). While there are a few passages contained therein that can be read like Arminian creeds, overall this book presupposes God's Word as Truth itself and thus is congruent mostly with what is later called Van Tillian apologetics (of course one could then say that Van Til had some Kierkegaard in him!).

2. It is written to examine what faith, in its nature as an exclusively Christian concept, is. But ever heard that Kierkegaard hated doctrine, that he loved the irrational leap into blind faith? Forget it. That's Johannes de Silentio. The passion and power of his prose here, along with his journal notes as provided by the Hongs' priceless scholarship, show that when he lists "dogma" with the three essentials of Christianity (the other two are faith and paradox), he meant it! (It wasn't just Anti-Climacus's idea.) He even says that once people throw out the "thou shalts" and God's special revelation as what it is--that Christianity is dead. Once we make Christ into an event, once philosophers merge God and man together--that Christianity is dead. Very powerful stuff. Now what does this have to do with faith? Kierkegaard shows that all natural men put their faith in themselves--and they will despair forever as they autonomously insist that they are the source of themselves. What Christianity insists on in men's putting their faith in the Creator as the Bible commands. Faith in God is not irrational, Kierkegaard says; but it is the gospel, as so wonderful, so inexpressibly amazing, that cannot fit into the minds of rationalistic men. This is a huge distinction. And a wonderful one!

3. It is written to examine thanklessness in those who don't look like they're despairing. This is where he attacks the Danish State Church. It's brutal and very convicting. I won't spoil it for you.

Despair is the refusal of man to admit who he is--a creature of his Creator. It's hubris, it's solipsism, it's pride, it's fear of humiliation. But Kierkegaard doesn't stop there. He shows the solution; he shows Christ as the only answer, using Christ's character as manifested in the gospels to show that it is our rebellion that He saves all men from. In this way, Anti-Climacus is in no way judgmental or self-righteous.

Another note: the Hongs are amazing. Write them a letter and tell them how amazing their work is. Each Princeton Kierkegaard book contains journal entries, an historical introduction, earlier draft changes, indices, &c.

And one more: another reviewer was totally right when he said that some of this is so powerful and--yea-- beautiful that you won't know you're reading Theology. The passage starting with the hourglass on pages 27-8 comes to mind immediately.

I only detract a star because of the ambiguity in certain places that has deceived many non-Christians into thinking that they're a-okay. And I've met a few of them, working at a bookstore as I did. It's written for Christians, so use your Biblical framework while reading it.

A classic that transcends time - Kierkegaard's Sickness Unto Death reveals the struggling search for the self. We are led to relate "despair" to the act of achieving one's "true" self and life is left only bearable through faith in God and afterlife.

where is God? this is the question i asked myself in my own suffering. kierkegaard's sickness unto death helped me understand where God is/was in my own despair. when i read kierkegaard i know i am reading something that was told from one's heart. kierkegaard really understands despair and he understands the struggle one goes through in despair. despair doesn't just happen to a select few. it touches us all. this book really saved me from sinking deep into my own despair. if kierkegaard were alive today i would send him a thank you note!

This is hands down the greatest book I have ever read, not including the Bible. I say that as a Christian and as an individual. I can understand how some choose to apply the concepts without the religion, but I personally think this would have infuriated SK.
Again, not including the Bible, "The Sickness Unto Death" is perhaps the only literary work I have ever read that altered my life, either by perception or action.
His elaborations on the various forms of despair should hit everyone, as there are several, each applicable to each personality.
If anyone were to ask me to recommend a single work, this would be it.
I must add, that I have not read scores of philosophy, only a handful. I say that to say this. This book may seem somewhat difficult to understand at first, but it gets easier the more you read and the more accustomed you get to SK's style. Once the first few pages regarding the definition of self have been comprehended, the rest falls beautifully into place.