Kierkegaard’s Socrates: a Venture in Evolutionary Theory

In Part II of the Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments, Johannes Climacus writes “Something about Lessing”, an almost obstinately vague and self-contradictory tribute to a thinker whom he greatly admires. In a subsection entitled, “An Expression of Gratitude”, Climacus finds numerous ways not to express his gratitude. Then, in a subsection entitled, “Possible/Actual Theses by Lessing”, Climacus maintains that philosophical reflection entails an irreducible subjectivity, thus rendering impossible the kind of straightforward elaboration that “theses” usually require. Of Kierkegaard’s numerous pseudonymous creations, Climacus is perhaps most concerned with the problems of communication, acutely aware that “the highest principles for all thinking can be demonstrated only indirectly”. He admires Lessing for understanding that a student cannot learn the truth by committing his teacher’s words to memory; Lessing’s greatest pedagogical accomplishment was (and remains) his self-effacement. Climacus realises, therefore, that it would be pointless to express his gratitude directly: “If I were to present a few thoughts and then by rote ascribe them directly to him, if I were to clasp him affably in admiration’s embrace as the one to whom I owed everything, he perhaps would withdraw with a smile and leave me in the lurch, an object of laughter.” As readers of this chapter of the Postscript, we know that Climacus will summarise and thank Lessing indirectly, because he has told us as much. Directly. What does it mean, however, to say (directly) “I am going to speak indirectly”? How, in fact, does one manage the hermeneutical task of reading an objective declaration like “truth is subjectivity”? Modern Theology 17:4 October 2001 ISSN 0266-7177