Geistlosigkeit. Reflexionen zur Aktualität von Søren Kierkegaards Konstruktion des Selbst im Spannungsfeld von Immanenz und Transzendenz

Abstract

Spiritlessness. Reflections on the topicality of Søren Kierkegaard’s construction of the self in the field of tension between immanence and transcendence: One of the most suggestive and provocative concepts developed by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard is the concept of “spiritlessness”. Spiritlessness is conceived of as a state of mind which cuts out transcendent possibilities at the benefice of reduced immanent probabilities and thus hinders the individual to become a true Self. The present paper asks for the topicality of Kierkegaard’s dialectics of “spirit” and “spiritlessness” for the constitution of the Self in the 21st cntury.