Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments

CONCLUDING UNSCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT TO PHILOSOPHICAL FRAGMENTS

VOLUME II

KIERKEGAARD’S WRITINGS, XII.2

CONCLUDING UNSCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT TO PHILOSOPHICAL FRAGMENTS

by Søren Kierkegaard

VOLUME II: HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION,
SUPPLEMENT, NOTES, AND INDEX

Edited and Translated
with Introduction and Notes by

Howard V. Hong and
Edna H. Hong

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

Copyright © 1992 by Howard V. Hong

Published by Princeton University Press,

41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Chichester, West Sussex

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813–1855.

[Afsluttende uvidenskabelig efterskrift. English]

Concluding unscientific postscript to Philosophical fragments / by Søren Kierkegaard ; edited and translated with introduction and notes by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong

p. cm.—(Kierkegaard’s writings ; 12)

Translation of: Afsluttende uvidenskabelig efterskrift.

Includes index.

ISBN 0-691-07395-3 (v. I : alk. paper)—ISBN 0-691-02081-7 (pbk : v. 1)—

ISBN 0-691-02082-5 (v. 2 : alk. paper)—ISBN 0-691-02081-7 (pbk. : ν. 2)

1. Christianity—Philosophy. 2. Apologetics—19th century.

1. Hong, Howard Vincent, 1912- . II. Hong, Edna Hatlestad, 1913- . III. Title

IV. Series: Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813-1855. Works.

English. 1978 ; 12

B4373.A472E5 1992

201—dc20 91-4093

Preparation of this volume has been made possible in part by a grant from the Division of Research Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency

Princeton University Press books are printed
on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines
for permanence and durability of the Committee on
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Printed in the Untied States of America

79108
ISBN-13: 978-0-691-02082-2 (pbk.)

ISBN-10: 0-691-02082-5 (pbk.)

CONTENTS

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

SUPPLEMENT

Key to References

Original Title Page of Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments

Selected Entries from Kierkegaard’s Journals and Papers Pertaining to Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments

EDITORIAL APPENDIX

Acknowledgments

Collation of Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments in the Danish Editions of Kierkegaard’s Collected Works

Notes

Bibliographical Note

Index

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

Toward the end of Philosophical Fragments, Johannes Climacus1 states: “In the next section of this pamphlet, if I ever do write it, I intend to call the matter by its proper name and clothe the issue in its historical costume. If I ever do write a second section—because a pamphlet writer such as I am has no seriousness, as you presumably will hear about me—why, then, should I now in conclusion pretend seriousness in order to please people by making a rather big promise? In other words, to write a pamphlet is frivolity—but to promise the system, that is seriousness and has made many a man a supremely serious man both in his own eyes and in the eyes of others.”2

The second section of the pamphlet became Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments and appeared February 28, 1846, scarcely twenty-one months after the triple publication of Fragments (June 13, 1844), The Concept of Anxiety (June 17, 1844), and Prefaces (June 17, 1844). According to the statement in Fragments, the copious clothed counterpart that eventually became Postscript was obviously on the agenda, and to write such a substantial work in a period of less than two years would scarcely constitute literary loitering. To maintain the appearance of an idler,3 however, in order to aid in masking the pseudonymity begun with Either/Or,4 Kierkegaard, while writing Postscript and other works, continued to be Copenhagen’s premier peripatetic, made a journey to Berlin, and averaged an excursion to points on Sjælland about every ten days. There were also three intervening publications: Four Upbuilding Discourses (August 31, 1844), Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions (April 29, 1845), and Stages on Life’s Way (April 30, 1845).