Kierkegaard and Death

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edited by patrick stokes and adam j. buben and Death Kierkegaard and Death stokes / buben INDIANA Philosophy • Religion Few philosophers have devoted such sustained, almost obsessive attention to the topic of death as Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard and Death brings together new work on Kierkegaard’s multifaceted discussions of death and provides a thorough guide to the development, in various texts and contexts, of Kierkegaard’s ideas concerning death. Essays by an international group of scholars take up essential topics such as dying to the world, living death, immortality , suicide, mortality and subjectivity, death and the meaning of life, remembrance of the dead, and the question of the afterlife. While bringing Kierkegaard’s philosophy of death into focus,this volume connects Kierkegaard with important debates in contemporary philosophy. Patrick Stokes is a Marie Curie Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire and an Honorary Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne. He is author of Kierkegaard’s Mirrors: Interest, Self, and Moral Vision. Adam J. Buben is a Kierkegaard House Foundation Fellow at the Hong Kierkegaard Library, St. Olaf College, Minnesota. Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion Merold Westphal, editor Cover: Gilbjerg Hoved, Gilleleje, Denmark. Photograph by Patrick Stokes. “Starting from living death and the thought of death, and then moving through dying, recollecting the death of another, and finally future life, this volume brings together in a coherent way Kierkegaard’s view on death and dying.”­ —Andrew J. Burgess, University of New Mexico Bloomington & Indianapolis iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796 Kierkegaard Kierkegaard & Death MECH.indd 1 9/12/11 9:30 AM recto runninghead 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 kierkegaard and death 2 verso runninghead Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion Merold Westphal, editor recto runninghead 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Kierkegaard and Death Edited by patrick stokes and adam buben Indiana University Press bloomington and indianapolis 4 verso runninghead This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 USA www.iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931© 2011 by Indiana University Press All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. ∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.481992 . Manufactured in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 16 15 14 13 12 11 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kierkegaard and death / edited by Patrick Stokes and Adam Buben.    p. cm. — (Indiana series in the philosophy of religion) Proceedings of a conference held in Dec. 2007 at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-35685-7 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-253-22352-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-253-00534-2 (ebook) 1. Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813–1855—Congresses. 2. Death—Congresses. I. Stokes, Patrick, [date] II. Buben, Adam, [date] III. Title. IV. Series. B4378.D43K54 2011 128'.5092—dc22 2011015256 ...