[Guest Paper] Kierkegaard’s Concept of Irony and his Critiques on Romantic Irony
Abstract
Abstract: Søren Kierkegaard’s doctoral dissertation, The Concept of Irony with Continual
Reference to Socrates (1841) is not only a comprehensive analysis of the
concept of irony but it also comprises his own characterization of irony.
Kierkegaard both elaborates on Socratic irony by addressing interpretations of
Xenophon, Plato and Aristophanes and looks into core principles of romantic
irony by concentrating on German Romantics in it. This article first examines
the key features of Kierkegaard’s irony and his critiques on romantic irony
particularly through Friedrich Schlegel’s famous novel, Lucinde. Then, it discusses whether Schlegel’s romantic irony
satisfies the necessary requirements of irony specified in The Concept of Irony. It also shows that in the light of
Kierkegaard’s critiques on Schlegel’s irony, the traces of the aesthetic, the
ethical and the religious spheres of existence which form the outline of
Kierkegaard’s existential philosophy and the place of irony as a border
territory between the aesthetic and the ethical spheres, depicted in his later
works, can already be found in The
Concept of Irony.
Keywords
References
- Beiser, F. C. (2003). The Romantic Imperative. Cambridge- Massachusetts & London: Harvard University Press.
- Firchow, P. (1971). “Introduction” in Friedrich Schlegel’s Lucinde and the Fragments, ed. P. Firchow, 3-39. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- Gardiner, P. (1988). Kierkegaard. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.
- Gonzalez, A. (2014). “Humor” in Kierkegaard’s Concepts: Envy to Incognito. ed. J. Stewart, W. McDonald, and S. M. Emmanuel, 175-182. England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
- Jothen, P. (2014). Kierkegaard, Aesthetics and Selfhood: The Art of Subjectivity. England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
- Kierkegaard S. (1989). The Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates. trans. H. V. Hong, E. H. Hong, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
- Kierkegaard, S. (2009). Concluding Unscientific Postscript. ed. and trans. A. Hannay, New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Kylliäinen J. (2009). Living Poetically in the Modern Age: The Situational Aspects of Kierkegaard’s Thought. Helsinki: University of Helsinki.
Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Philosophy
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
İşıl Çeşmeli
0000-0003-0065-4429
Türkiye
Publication Date
June 30, 2018
Submission Date
May 15, 2018
Acceptance Date
June 16, 2018
Published in Issue
Year 2018 Volume: 1 Number: 1