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‘Fear and Trembling’ Reconsidered in Light of Kant’s ‘Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals’

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Abstract

In this study I provide a thematic comparison of Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling and Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals to suggest that the representation of the ethical in Fear and Trembling is transparently Kantian. At times I draw on Kant’s Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, Conflict of the Faculties, and The Metaphysics of Morals to offer a comprehensive account of Kant’s ethical theory. Both philosophers hold profoundly important positions within the milieu of ethics, however they have always shared a tenuous and at times negative relationship. In this study, I challenge such commentators by showing that when the figure of Abraham is taken typologically and excluded from the text, what emerges from Fear and Trembling is a Kantian based ethics. I argue that a comparative reading of Kant’s Groundwork and Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling reveals that Kierkegaard’s thought gravitates towards three central principles of Kant’s categorical imperative, as well sharing some similarities with Kant’s understanding of duty.

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Notes

  1. References to Kierkegaard’s philosophical works are to the latest Danish edition of his works, Søren Kierkegaards Skrifter (1997—), abbreviated to SKS and followed by volume number, and to the translation in the series Kierkegaard’s Writing (1978–2009), referred to by a title-based acronym. Thus (SKS 4:147/ FT: 53) refers to Fear and Trembling (English trans.), p.53 = SKS, volume 4, p.147

  2. References to Kant's philosophical works are provided by the standard translation in The Cambridge Edition of the Writings of Immanuel Kant(1992—). I have used the following abbreviations: G = Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten (Kant 1996); Rel = Die Religion inneralb der Grenzen der blossen Vernunft (Kant 1996); MM = Die Metaphysik der Sitten (Kant 1996); LE = Lectures on Ethics (Kant 2001); Pölitz = Philosophische Religionslehre nacht Pölitz (Kant 1996); OP = Opus Postumum (Kant 1998). I have used the standard A/B pagination to refer to the Kritik der Reinen Vernunft (Kant 1999).

  3. See (Quin 1997, 349–376); (Fremstedal, 2015, 113–126).

  4. There is a contention in the interpretation of the pseudonymous work of Kierkegaard. However, in this study I will refer to Kierkegaard as the author, not Silentio. For discussions on this academic debate see (McKinnon 1969, 116–126).

  5. For a more recent response to MacIntyre’s alignment of Kant and Kierkegaard see (Humbert 2014, 310–333).

  6. In Kierkegaard’s Journal and Papers, regarding Fear and Trembling, he writes, “He who has explained this riddle has explained my life.” JP 5: 5640.

  7. See (Quinn (1978, 2005); (Murphey 1998); (Adams 1999).

  8. See (Stern 2012, 58); (Hare 1996; 2001); (Hare 2015, 166–173).

  9. Green goes as far to argue that Kant’s Religion and The Conflict of the Faculties produced the stimulus for Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling. (Green 1998, 271)

  10. see (Theunissen 2016); (Ferreira 2009, 1–18); (Thulstrup 1980); (Rudd 1993, 10–15)

  11. See (Moore, 2003, 22); (Insole 2020, 416); (Ward 1972, 156)

  12. Kierkegaard also uses the Biblical figure of Job in his other writings such as Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses (1843). See (Julin 2017, 209–226); (Pons 2004).

  13. For a further discussion of this concept outside of Fear and Trembling see (SKS 7: 238–245/ CUP: 236–39).

  14. I thank the anonymous reviewer of Philosophia for bringing this connection to my attention. Doing so has given the article a much richer depth of analysis.

  15. (Taylor 1980); (Stewart 2007).

  16. See (Korsgaard 1996, 106–133); (Insole 2020, 345–376).

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  1. Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, Abbey House, Palace Green, Durham, DH1 3RS, UK

    Morgan Keith Jackson

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Jackson, M.K. ‘Fear and Trembling’ Reconsidered in Light of Kant’s ‘Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals’. Philosophia 49, 1541–1561 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-021-00328-4

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