Abstract
This chapter examines Kierkegaard’s Concluding Unscientific Postscript, which mocks Hegelian conceptualization and at the same time develops a philosophy of humour and the comic. The parody of Hegelianism also becomes a parody of religious faith; and Climacus the humourist, Kierkegaard’s pseudonymous author, declares he is not religious. Hegel is berated for always absorbing the finite particular into the infinite. Climacus revels in the paradox between the finite and the infinite that can never be resolved. This means that his humourist awareness includes a tragic dimension.
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Notes
- 1.
M. Jamie Ferreira notes that Climacus makes a distinction between the postscript and “sequel”. The sequel is in Part I and addresses the objective problem of Christianity’s truth. But the sequel is the least relevant since Part II eclipses Part I. M. Jamie Ferreira, “The Socratic secret” in Kierkegaard’s Concluding Unscientific Postscript: A Critical Guide, edited by Rick Anthony Furtak (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 6.
- 2.
Mackey takes a very different approach towards this text, maintaining that to read it as a philosophical treatise is “nonsense.” But I would maintain that this assumes that jokes, irony and sarcasm are not serious, and Kierkegaard is imploring us to take humour seriously. Louis Mackey, Kierkegaard: A Kind of Poet (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), p. 25.
Primary Works
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Froese, K. (2017). Humour and Finitude in Kierkegaard. In: Why Can’t Philosophers Laugh?. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55044-2_4
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