Reviews

Temor y Temblor by Søren Kierkegaard

literarylandscape's review against another edition

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5.0

The strength of the Absurd! This was a difficult book to get through, not because I did not enjoy the content, but because philosophy is dense, and even more so when it wades into theology. This is regarding the Paradox of Abraham and Isaac (if you are not familiar, it is the story about the son of promise-Isaac, being asked of Abraham-his father-by God on the mountain of Moriah) He is a murderer (by ethics) yet the Father of Faith by the divine. He explains why Faith is actually the highest passion above rationality (before you start to eyeroll let me explain- he does not mean rationality is exempt, he simply means to arrive at a Faith point, one must essentially, “suspend disbelief” as in “leave disbelief at the door and move towards something that seems impossible” by human abilities, and therefore left entirely to the divine. A lot of greek and old tragedies referenced here I am only vaguely or distantly aware of. So be forewarned! Not an easy reAd, but an essential classic :)

oofym's review against another edition

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challenging reflective
This was a tough one. Although I didn't technically finish it, I'm counting it as finished due to the fact that reading the introduction (Written by an expert on Kierkegaard), plus half of the book, was more than enough for me to get the core philosophical concept. Because of the stellar introduction; as I made my way through Kierkegaard's "Fear and Trembling" I felt like I was walking over already well tread ground. I'll be honest too; I understood the summary of what Kierkegaard was trying to say in this much better than what Kierkegaard actually said, his writing is convoluted and very repetitive.

With the preamble out of the way, I can say that I really did enjoy this glimpse into Kierkegaard's philosophy on faith and ethics. It helped me better understand my own views and formulate more coherent takes on certain aspects of faith. However, at the end of the day, I feel that what Kierkegaard is attempting to say is actually rather simple, he's just making it endlessly elaborate and purposely obfuscated.
At the core of Fear and Trembling is this phrase:
 “Faith begins precisely where thinking leaves off.” 

And you can pretty much leave it there in my opinion, the leap of faith is just that, it's a leap away from reason and into something higher and much trickier to understand. Kierkegaard himself says that in the end; the power, mystique and the beauty of Abraham's faith is one which he does not understand and yet aspires towards.
Take the leap of faith or don't. If you can do it, you can do it. If you can't, you can't.

heart_288's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.0

lookingglasswar's review against another edition

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5.0

Kierkegaard uses the story of Abraham being told to sacrifice Isaac to tease out his issues with Hegelian ethics and to develop his concepts of faith, namely infinite resignation, the roles of the individual and the universal, and the demonstration of Abraham's faith — was there teleological suspension of the ethical? IE, did Abraham almost commit a sin? Logically, he would be a murderer, but his belief in the absurd, that Isaac would be restored to him as before, is what elevates it beyond ethics.
It's incredibly important to note that this treatise on sacrifice and higher morality was written after Kierkegaard broke up his engagement to pursue philosophy, since it's (beautifully written, clearly argued, persuasively litigated) cope. I am an atheist but, like with the Screwtape Letters, found this engaging and compelling. I would also like some backstory on why Kierkegaard takes shots at poets every few pages

csjohnston's review against another edition

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5.0

A lot packed into a hundred pages - I feel mentally exhausted after this one and I very much lost the thread during the section outlining the defense of Abraham's silence. This feels particularly relevant for a culture that is so deeply imbued with Christianity: we can be so desensitized to everything surrounding the Christian faith that it is easy to forget that true faith is always a miracle and is utterly incomprehensible.

codypretzel's review against another edition

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4.0

While having wanted to read him for some time, I finally got around to it during isolation. While not holistically world changing, Kiekegaard writes with a voice that soothes me and begs for further, calm, inquiry in a time that otherwise feels chaotic. It's been incredibly refreshing to read him in this time.

jamestomasino's review against another edition

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4.0

I had some difficulty really deeply understanding the Abraham and Isaac argument, but I found much more empathy for the story from Tobit. The innocence of the bride and her strength of faith as a sacrifice without any apparent reason felt more approachable. In the Ignatian way I could set myself in those scenes and put on the skin of each character. From there backtracking to Abraham gives me hints at where he's going.

Regardless, very well done and quite accessible text.

aditgupta's review against another edition

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4.0

This is one of those books that you've to read twice or even thrice before getting a good hold of everything mentioned in it. Various philosophical ideas like the absurd, infinite resignation and dialectic of aesthetics and ethics are not to so easy to comprehend in first reading. The core idea of faith revolves around Abraham and kierkegaard tries to explain it in detail through three problema. It's tough to read but still convincing. I would like to read the book again after I thoroughly go through Hegelian philosophy.

sreymey's review against another edition

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5.0

Søren simply provides more information about Abraham and I'm fascinated about his ideas on that.

egoheir's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

5.0