Kierkegaard (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 487 dominant. In 1802the sincere violence with which Hegel hves the ruptured situation of the moment does not allow him any other development of a solution to the problem of the dwlded nation. The presence of the Absolute in the finite is antagonistic and the reconohatton, m ~tsdouble speculatwe direction, is formulated as something to which Hegel still can only aspire; the reconclhatlng force or sacrifice is too precanus, even though the speculative serenity In which the Logtc is produced reproduces existentially this same structure. (P 148) An engaging style often comes through in the translation despite the fact that the text has not been properly edited. Fortunately, most of the many errors are only irritating and do not seem to invite misunderstandings. The notes include copious and detailed references to a substantial body of literature , for the most part in German, much of which must be a necessary resource for anyone wishing to be currently informed about the young Hegel. DARREL E. CHRISTENSEN Salzburg, Austria Bernard Bykhovskii. Kierkegaard. Translated by H. F. Mlns. Amsterdam: B. R. Grimer, 1976. Pp. ix + 122. $12.00, paper. In a style that we have become quite used to in the writings of Marx, Lenin, and numerous Marxist authors, Bykhovskii presents a sustained polemic against Kierkegaard as thinker and as human being. Although much of the content of this rather short essay is comprised of criticisms of Klerkegaard that are either ad hommem arguments or unsupported attacks on selected features of Kierkegaard's thought, the essay is interesting as a confrontation between a sincere Marxist and a defender of subjective individualism and a staunch critic of any and every social order that elevates "the crowd" above the authentically existing person. The first wave of the author's attack upon Kierkegaard IS aimed at the dissolution of German idealism and Klerkegaard's reaction to this significant event in the history of Western thought. Bykhovskii appropriately and justifiably criticizes the effete "'theosophy" given out by Schelllng in his Berlin lectures and suggests that Klerkegaard was influenced not by Schelling's metaphysical excesses , but by his emphasis upon the primacy of will, the possibility of a "Christian philosophy," and the critique of rationalism. It is correctly pointed out that Klerkegaard was repelled by Schelling's "philosophy of revelation" and was led to seek another means by which to undermine the arrogance of nineteenth-century idealism. It is also mentioned that Marx. Engels, and Feuerbach realized that the Berlin lectures of Schelling marked the nadir of idealism and believed that the time was ripe for the promulgation of an atheistic anthropology that would be rooted in the concrete, empirical conditions of human life. In this regard, Bykhovskn notes that Marx had urged Feuerbach to undertake a critique of Schelling. He did not do so, but he agreed with Marx and Engels that Schelhng's theosophical musing should be attacked from the left flank. Although it is true that Klerkegaard was very disappointed In Schelling's lectures on "'positive philosophy," and although he did appropriate some of his insights nonetheless, Bykhovskii is led to conclude that Kierkegaard's "subjecnvtstw fidelsm" (p. 13) retained a form of philosophical "idealism "'Throughout the book this rather serious misinterpretation IS repeated. It is the central flaw in this Interpretation of Kierkegaard, because it fails to see that the empirical world, concrete actuality, and the independent reality of others and the world is never questioned by Kierkegaard. Thus, the self is conceived of as a dynamic synthesis of spirit, soul and body, the world is described (in the Journals) as the "medium" in which we live, and "movement" as existential striving occurs only in "'temporality." Also, we have an "approximate" knowledge of empirical actuality (Concluding Unscientific Postscript), and the individual IS the center in which "ideality" and "actuality" are brought into dialectical relationship (Johannes Chmacus). Kierkegaard 's insistence that authentic, subjective existence is an activity manifested in concrete actuality alone should convince anyone that he does not conceive of man as a pure, knowing consciousness that "creates" a world through acts of consciousness 488 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY In a chapter entitled "The Copenhagen Anomaly" Bykhovskli briefly sketches the life of Kierkegaard , placing...