Date of Award

Spring 5-2024

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Major

Philosophy

First Advisor

Todd Ryan

Second Advisor

Shane Ewegen

Abstract

Søren Kierkegaard's unique conceptualization of faith has historically been most valued for its interpretive potential in clarifying the relationship between Kierkegaardian philosophy and ethics. In this thesis, I argue that such a narrow, strictly ethical focus on the implications of Kierkegaardian faith has occluded the vast hermeneutical utility of this concept. By appropriating the movement of faith as a tool for reconsidering certain key themes in Kierkegaard's authorship, I posit a deep homology between the proper Christian orientation towards faith on the one hand and Christ, selfhood, and divine forgiveness on the other. Incidentally, moreover, I suggest that this study's exploratory treatment of faith may actually help to clarify the ethical considerations from which it initially departed: understanding these aforementioned thematic cornerstones of Kierkegaard's thought project (Christ, selfhood, and divine forgiveness) in terms of faith yields a particular rendering of teleological suspension that involves the dialectical retention rather than violation of universal ethical principles, including divinely sanctioned ones.

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