Kierkegaard is no doubt a philosopher whose focus is inwardness and irreducible individuality. On the surface, he therefore seems to have little to teach us about the sphere of the political: not only was this dimension never explicitly addressed in the writings of the Danish philosopher, but also the positions he took with regard to such a domain where always marked by a strong critical attitude. Moreover, he appeared to be a conservative with regard to any movement towards democratization and equality, opposing liberal democracy as well as socialism, while not refraining from taking up explicitly misogynous positions. With this in mind, one could easily dismiss Kierkegaardian philosophy as exclusively relevant to the private domain of individual existence and irremediably unable to speak to wider concerns such as those encountered in the public dimension. However, in spite of his emphasis on singularity, or perhaps precisely because of it, over the years Kierkegaard's philosophy has given rise to interpretations that recognise its relevance for the political. For instance, the crucial importance of such ideas as self-choice, earnestness and subjective passion are easily imported from the individual sphere into the realm of the political, coming to have a bearing on notions such as responsibility and commitment. In addition, Kierkegaard's accent on the irreducibility of the individual to the universal resonates interestingly in those forms of thinking that, from the margins, call into question the domination of an exclusionary model of reason. Furthermore, his ethical writings on love are directly relevant to the political sphere. This book seeks to draw out, from a range of perspectives, some of the ways in which Kierkegaard's ideas are not only relevant, but highly significant for political thought.
About the Author: Alison Assiter is Professor of Feminist Theory at the University of the West of England. She has written a number of books and articles, including Althusser and Feminism (Pluto Press, 1990), Enlightened Women (Routledge, 1996), Revisiting Universalism (Macmillan, 2003) and more recently Kierkegaard, Metaphysics and Political Theory (Continuum, 2009). Her present interests include political philosophy and the philosophy of Kant and Kierkegaard. Margherita Tonon received her PhD from the University of Leuven, Belgium, in 2012, with a thesis on dialectics in Kierkegaard and Adorno. She has published articles on Kierkegaard, Adorno and their reception of the legacy of Hegelianism. Her current research interests are situated at the intersection of German idealism and critical theory.