“The Button- Should ethical actions always proceed “on principle”? If a man had a little button sewn on the inner pocket of his coat “on principle” his otherwise unimportant and quite serviceable action would become charged with importance- it is not important that it would result in the formation of a society…“On principle” a man may interest himself in the founding of a brothel (there are plenty of social studies on the subject written by health authorities), and the same man can “on principle” assist in the publication of a new Hymn Book because it is supposed to be the great need of the times. But it would be as unjustifiable to conclude from the first fact that he was debauched as it would, perhaps, be to conclude from the second that he read or sang hymns.”
-The Present Age
“The Early Finish- Is the task of becomming a self ever completed? When in a written examination the youth are alloted four hours to develop a theme, then it is neither here nor there if an individual student happens to finish before the time is up, or uses the entire time. Here, therefore, the task is one thing, the time another. But when the time itself is the task, it becomes a fault to finish before the time has transpired. Suppose a man were assigned the task of entertaining himself for an entire day, and he finishes this task of self-entertainment as early as noon: then his celerity would not be meritorious. So also when life constitutes the task. To be finished with life before life has finished with one, is precisely not to have finished the task.”
-“Johannes Climacus” in Concluding Unscientific Postscript
“The Storm- Is knowledge changed when it is applied? Let us imagine a pilot, and assume that he had passed every examination with distinction, but that he had not as yet been at sea. Imagine him in a storm; he knows everything he ought to do, but he has not known before how terror grips the sea-farer when the stars are lost in the blakeness of night; he has not known the sense of impotence that comes when the pilot sees the wheel in his hand become a plaything for the waves; he has not known how the blood rushes to the head when one tries to make calculations at such a moment; in short, he has had no conception of the change that takes place in the knower when he has to apply his knowledge.”
“The Dog Kennel by the Palace- To what shall we compare the relation between the thinker’s system and his actual existence? A thinker erects an immense building, a system, a system which embraces the whole of existence and world-history etc.- and if we contemplate his personal life, we discover to our astonishment this terrible and ludicrous fact, that he himself personally does not live in this immense high-valued palace, but in a barn alongside of it, or in a dog kennel, or at the most in the porter’s lodge. If one were to take the liberty of calling his attention to this by a single word, he would be offended. For he has no fear of being under a delusion, if only he can get the system completed…by means of the delusion.”
"The Self-assured Policeman- What is the authority of the comic? The more one suffers, the more, I believe, has one a sense for the comic. It is only by the deepest suffering that one acquires true authority in the use of the comic, an authority which by one word transforms as by magic the reasonable creature one calls man into a caricature. This authority is like the self-assurance of the policeman when he lays hand upon his stick without ceremony and permits no back-talk and no obstruction of the street. The man who is struck would retort, he makes a protest, he would be treated with respect as a citizen, he threatens an investigation; at that instant the next rap of the stick follows, with the warning, “Hold your tongue, keep moving, don’t stand still.”
Is this the concept of irony? The tragic is often comical and what is comical is usually tragic. I would have to agree with Kierkegaard on this point…that comedy is usually at the cost of arduous suffering and trial. The man who can laugh well has most likely cried himself silly. It also reminds me of something Sartre once wrote: “There is a suffering that comes from not enough suffering…”. This suffering from lack is, I am convinced, manifested in those stodgy personalities who cannot see the humor in anything that is heavy…whether it be death or a cartoon anvil dropping on Wily Coyote’s head.
“The Dangerous Instrument- Is love, in the Christian sense, dangerous? I wonder if a man handing another man an extremely sharp, polished, two-edged instrument would hand it over with the air, gestures, and expression of one delivering a bouquet of flowers? Would not this be madness? What does one do, then? Convinced of the excellence of the dangerous instrument, one recommends it unreservedly, to be sure, but in such a way that in a certain sense one warns against it. So it is with Christianity. If what is needed is to be done, we should not hesitate, aware of the highest responsibility, to preach in Christian sermons- yes, precisely in Christian sermons- AGAINST Christianity.”
Having no knowledge of this philosopher this was really informative so thanks for posting all your thoughts. If K is the soft Neitzche who would be a stand up comedian today who would give you the same kind of edge? As you said, today’s humor is so different that it is like comparing apples and oranges, but I would be curious for you to choose someone. Or do an SAT/ACT question: Neitzche is to K, as Rodney is to _______.
Well, you said it would be impossible to compare him to today’s standard of comedy, but if you had to do it, who would you pick? Is he self deprecating like Rodney, or does a lot of word play like Ellen, or is he sexually provocative like Eddie, or does he make comparisons to everyday life like George?
“The Darkroom Search- Is love blind? They say that love makes blind, and by this they explain the phenomenon. In case a man going into a dark room to fetch something were to reply to my advice that he carry a light by saying, “The thing I am seeking is only a trifle, therefore I carry no light”- ah, then I could understand him perfectly. On the other hand, when the same man takes me aside and confides to me in a mysterious manner that the thing he went to fetch was of the utmost importance, and therefore he could do it blindly- ah, I wonder how my poor mortal head might be able to follow the high flight of this speech. Even if for fear of offending him I might refrain from laughter, as soon as his back was turned I could not help laughing. But at love nobody laughs.”
“The Interrupted Wise Man- What is the relation of presumption and wisdom? If someone talked with a wise man, and immediately upon the first words of the wise man, he interrupted him with his thanks, because he now needed no more help: what would this show other than that he did not talk with a wise man, but with a wise man whom he himself transformed into a fool?”
“The Imagined Rebellion- Are modern revolutions real or imagined? A revolutionary age is an age of action; ours is the age of advertisement and publicity. Nothing ever happens but there is immediate publicity everywhere. In the present age a rebellion is, of all things, the most unthinkable. Such an expression of strength would seem ridiculous to the calculating intelligence of our times. On the other hand a political virtuoso might bring off a feat almost as remarkable. He might write a manifesto suggesting a general assembly at which people should decide upon a rebellion, and it would be so carefully worded that even the censor would let it pass. At the meeting itself he would be able to create the impression that his audience had rebelled, after which they would all go quietly home- having spent a very pleasant evening.”
"The Swindler and the Widow’s Mite- Is charitable intent essential to an act of charity or mercy? Take the story about the woman who placed the two pennies in the temple-treasury, but let us poetize a little variation. The two pennies were for her a great sum, which she had not quickly accumulated. She had saved for a long time in order to get them saved up, and then she had hidden them wrapped in a little cloth in order to bring them when she herself went up to the temple. But a swindler had detected that she possessed this money, had tricked her out of it, and had exchanged the cloth for an identical piece which was utterly empty- something which the widow did not know. Thereupon she went up to the temple, placed, as she intended, the two pennies, that is, nothing, in the temple-treasury: I wonder if Christ would not still have said what he said of her, that “she gave more than all the rich?”
Works of Love
So is there a degree of mercy in the decision about the woman, or would she get the same credit had her money not been stolen by the swindler? Is the decision tainted by mercy?
Only Kierkegaard comes up with shit like this. He’s our ‘inside-man’ for our dealings in the politics of God. Nobody can do it better.
“The August Holiday- To what shall we compare the conceit of modernity that hungers for instant recognition prior to any actual achievement? The present is the age of anticipation when even recognition is received in advance. No one is satisfied with doing something definite, every one wants to feel flattered by reflection with the illusion of having discovered at the very least a new continent. Like a young man who decides to work for his examination in all earnest from September 1st, and in order to strengthen his resolution decides to take a holiday during August, so the present generation seems- though this is decidedly more difficult to understand- to have made a solemn resolution that the next generation should set to work seriously, and in order to avoid disturbing or delaying the next generation, the present attends to- the banquets. Only there is a difference: the young man understands himself in the light-heartedness of youth, whereas our generation is serious- even at banquets.”
“The Man Who Walked Backwards- Why do inconsistent behaviors so often accompany exorbitant professions of good intentions? When a man turns his back upon someone and walks away, it is so easy to see that he walks away, but when a man hits upon a method of turning his face towards the one he is walking away from, hits upon a method of walking backwards while with appearance and glance and salutations he greets the person, giving assurances again and again that he is coming immediately, or incessantly saying “Here I am”- although he gets farther and farther away by walking backwards- then it is not so easy to become aware. And so it is with the one who, rich in good intentions and quick to promise, retreats backwards farther and farther from the good. With the help of intentions and promises he maintains an orientation towards the good, he is turned towards the good, and with this orientation towards the good he moves backwards farther and farther away from it. With every renewed intention and promise it seems as if he takes a step forward, and yet he not only remains standing still but really takes a step backward. The intention taken in vain, the unfullfilled promise leaves a residue of despondency, dejection, which perhaps soon again flares up in more passionate protestations of intention, which leave behind only greater languor. As a drunkard constantly requires stronger and stronger stimulation- in order to become intoxicated, likewise the one who has fallen into intentions and promises constantly requires more and more stimulation- in order to walk backwards.”