Book Review: Soren Kierkegaard: Subjectivity, Irony & the Crisis of Modernity

Soren Kierkegaard: Subjectivity, Irony & the Crisis of Modernity

Jon Stewart (2015). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

I had high expectations of this book having enjoyed an online course of the same name that preceded this publication. Jon Stewart, who also led the online course, clearly has a passion for Kierkegaard, one that is brought to life by the illustrations and depictions of life in and around Copenhagen in the nineteenth century.

I was not disappointed. This book is written with the same precision and passion that Stewart teaches with, and, for me, the passion is contagious. It is a book that clarifies some of the more obscure and academic aspects of the enigmatic and controversial Soren Kierkegaard's life and writings, whilst also giving it a contemporary feel and relevance.

As I read the book I could see the relevance of Kierkegaard's writings in my work as a psychotherapist. Yet I also wrestled with its applications, in an aporectic state at times, feeling lost, but engaged, in the enormity and profundity of his thinking.

In his preface to this book the author Jon Stewart sets out his stall clearly in terms of his approach to looking at Kierkegaard's work and life, and also in terms of the contents of the book. He wants to look at the 'central strand' of his thought which derives from Socrates and, in doing so, seeks to explicate Kierkegaard's method, motivation and style of writing. This Socratic strand, Stewart argues, is present throughout Kierkegaard's writings.

He differentiates his book from other introductory works on Kierkegaard, many of which have looked at the 'so-called stages of existence' i.e. the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious/spiritual. Stewart is critical of this 'cliché' saying that it is too schematic and that Kierkegaard himself may not have conceived of his work in this holistic sense, arguing that the repetition of this scheme in secondary literature has promoted its centrality. Stewart is also keen not to separate Kierkegaard's biography from his thought and instead seeks to contextualise this geographically, historically, and temporally.

Interweaving Kierkegaard's life with his work paints a vivid picture of a somewhat isolated and aloof man, an introverted, but provocative figure to those around him whose own passion for theology, philosophy and literature would lead him to become such an influential writer and thinker. Finally, Stewart adds that, whilst he wishes to highlight Kierkegaard's genius he should not be placed on a pedestal, as he believes he has been by apologists in secondary literature, but rather seen for who he was: 'a human being with the shortcomings and weaknesses of other human beings'.

The Crisis of Modernity, Irony, and Subjectivity

Whilst Jon Stewart is an academic (Professor at the Soren Kierkegaard Research Centre at the University of Copenhagen), and his work scholarly, from the beginning of the book, and throughout, he writes in an accessible and open style. This would seemingly offer something both to those coming to Kierkegaard for the first time, and to others who may have read Kierkegaard before but for whom Stewart provides additional background and a fresh approach.

The title of his book immediately draws the reader's attention to themes that run throughout the text. To take the title from back to front: Stewart opens his book by inviting the reader to reflect on 21st Century living and to contemplate our place in the world, particularly with regards to technology, alienation and instability. He then introduces Kierkegaard as a Danish 'gadfly', a philosopher, literary author, psychologist, and theologian who provoked, inspired, and irritated his contemporaries, always thinking as he walks the streets of Copenhagen. The influence of Socrates is already clear.

Kierkegaard's second published book The Concept of Irony (1841) was actually originally written as his master's thesis at the University of Copenhagen and reflects his interest in Greek culture and literature, specifically around the life and thoughts of Socrates. It discusses irony in the way it is used critically to question beliefs, thoughts, and assumptions that we might hold about a range of fundamental ideas about how we choose to live.

In fact Stewart sees The Concept of Irony as an essential text if we want to understand his philosophical and religious thinking, even though it has been somewhat dismissed both by critics, and indeed Kierkegaard himself, as an insignificant early work.

Kierkegaard was fascinated by Socratic dialogue and the apparent negation of any solid outcome or conclusion of his interlocutors. Socrates would bring others to a state of aporia ('being at a loss', or 'being unable to answer'; Stewart, 2015: p 14). However, after further reflection Kierkegaard saw that the result of this was not purely negative but would lead to a deeply subjective sense and re-evaluation of one's beliefs or values.

'Socrates led his interlocutors into the process of philosophical thinking, since they could not simply be passive recipients of a teaching presented by Socrates or someone else' (ibid, p 15).

Here we can see not only the roots of Kierkegaard's own philosophy and style of writing, but also a foundation for later thinking in the field of existential psychotherapy.

Context and Irony

Throughout the book Stewart contextualises the development of Kierkegaard's thinking. For example, he looks at the time Kierkegaard attended the University of Copenhagen and of the popularity of Hegel at the University at that time. He also looks at the influence of some of Kierkegaard's peers and lecturers at the time (e.g. Martensen). All of this would provide a platform for Kierkegaard to engage in critical dialogue with the ideas that would become central to his work: autonomy; freedom; subjectivity; and so on.

In particular Stewart considers Kierkegaard's examination of Hegel's interpretation of Socrates with regards to individual freedom and the story of modern existence (ibid, p 44). For both Hegel and Kierkegaard their interest in Socrates was not only a historical one but one where, 'Socrates was a symbol of the constellation of modern issues that concern freedom, alienation, and relativism – the problems of our world of the twenty-first century' (ibid, p 45).

Where Kierkegaard would take issue with Hegel was over the evolutionary notion of his dialectic resulting in an 'Absolute Spirit', instead again emphasising the importance of individual autonomy.

Further on in the book Stewart considers Kierkegaard's concept of irony, and in particular the influence of the Danish scholar Johann Ludwig Heiberg, who himself was heavily influenced by Hegel's historical perspective. Stewart here describes Kierkegaard's concept of irony as a subjective, authentic stance in the face of prevailing social norms and trends.

'For Kierkegaard, the ironist is the one who perceives the present crisis clearly. But the ironist has no clear picture of what the future will hold. He has only vague intuitions. Thus, his goal is less to build the future than to expose the contradictions of the present' (ibid, p 78).

Once again here I can see the influence of this on contemporary existential psychotherapy.

I am reminded of an article recently in The Guardian by Oliver Burkeman ('Therapy Wars' 7th January, 2016) challenging the apparent efficacy of CBT as the current dominant therapeutic model. Whilst Burkeman focuses on recent research done at the Tavistock in favour of psychoanalysis I also feel that existential psychotherapy too offers a valid alternative to CBT. The existential psychotherapist here can be seen as the ironist, one who rather than aim to correct the person's, questionably, faulty cognitive and behavioural disposition would instead help illuminate and examine the contradictions within that person's narrative. In the therapeutic encounter the person remains the focus of this endeavour but hopefully benefits from the intersubjective dynamic that therapy provides.

Stewart clarifies that the point of Kierkegaard's concept of irony is not just to mock others. 'Instead, the justification for irony from a historical perspective is that it is used to focus on and develop the principle of subjective freedom' (Stewart, 2015: p 79).

Here the illuminating of truth for the individual in a world of other truths would lead to a contextualised knowing of oneself in terms of perspective, values and beliefs, and one's relationship to the world.

Conclusion

Whilst Stewart's book is a relatively short one he manages to convey a very thorough examination of Kierkegaard's life and work. What I was left with was a curiosity about how Kierkegaard himself would have viewed the modern world. In particular I would have been fascinated to see how he may have related what he is saying for the implications of a more secular view of irony. Whilst Kierkegaard was well-known for his critique of the Danish church at the time, he remained a devout Christian, and implicit in his treatise is that a notion of God lies at the root of this.

Malcolm Freeman