Everything about Fear And Trembling totally explained
» For the novel by Amélie Nothomb, see Fear and Trembling (novel).
Fear and Trembling (original
Danish title:
Frygt og Bæven) is an influential philosophical work by
Søren Kierkegaard, published in
1843 under the pseudonym
Johannes de Silentio(
John the Silent). The title is a reference to a line from
Philippians 2:12, "...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling."
Fear and Trembling presents a highly original and provocative interpretation of the
Binding of Isaac story as told in
Genesis Chapter 22, and uses the story as an occasion to discuss fundamental issues in
moral philosophy and the
philosophy of religion, such as the nature of
God and
faith, faith's relationship with ethics and morality, and the difficulty of being authentically religious.
Summary
The work begins with a meditation on the faith of
Abraham when he was commanded by
God to sacrifice his son
Isaac. Silentio gives four alternative re-tellings in which Abraham fails the test of his faith and contrasts them with his own interpretation of the story of Abraham and the faith therein demonstrated. Silentio professes to admire Abraham's faith, but he's utterly incapable of comprehending it.
Following the
Preface and Prelude, there's a
Panegyric Upon Abraham and a series of three
Problemata, which address three specific philosophical questions raised by the story of Abraham's sacrifice.
- Is there a teleological suspension of the ethical? (That is, can Abraham's intent to sacrifice Isaac be considered "good" even though, ethically, human sacrifice is unacceptable?)
- Is there an absolute duty to God? (In other words, beyond that which is ethical)
- Was it ethically defensible for Abraham to have concealed his purpose from Sarah, Eleazar, and Isaac?
Themes
In
Fear and Trembling Kierkegaard introduces the "
Knight of faith" and contrasts him with the "knight of infinite resignation". The latter gives up everything in return for the infinite, that which he may receive after this life, and continuously dwells with the pain of his loss. The former, however, not only relinquishes everything, but also trusts that he'll receive it all back, his trust based on the "strength of the absurd".
For Kierkegaard (or at least Johannes de Silentio), infinite resignation is easy, but faith is founded in the belief in the absurd. The absurd is that which is contradictory to reason itself. For Abraham, this faith in the absurd manifests itself in Abraham's belief that he'd kill his only son but he'd nevertheless receive him again in his lifetime. Silentio's opinion is that what separates Abraham from being a killer is his faith. (In the end of the Genesis 22 story, God stops Abraham at the last moment. A ram appears which Abraham takes as a sign from God, and he sacrifices the ram instead of Isaac.)
An important theme is the conflict between theology and philosophy. According to Kierkegaard, mid-19th-century secular philosophers laughed at faith and saw no mystery in the story of Abraham while professing to find
Hegel's philosophy exceedingly difficult. Kierkegaard, however, thought that understanding Hegel was possible (if difficult) but trying to comprehend why Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son caused him to be "virtually annihilated".
Further Information
Get more info on 'Fear And Trembling'.
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