"Without authority," a phrase Kierkegaard repeatedly applied to himself & his writings, is an appropriate title for this volume of five short works that in various ways deal with the concept & practice of authority. "The Lily in the Field & the Bird of the Air" contemplates the teaching authority of these creatures based on three different passages in the Gospels. The first of "Two Ethical-Religious Essays" mediates on the ethics of Jesus' martyrdom; the second contrasts the authority of the genius with that of the apostle. The remaining works--"Three Discourses at the Communion on Fridays" (1849), "An Upbuilding Discourse" (1850), & "Two Discourses at the Communion on Fridays" (1851)--are meditations on sin, forgiveness & the power of love.
Kierkegaard left the task of discovering the meaning of his works to the reader, because "the task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted". Scholars have interpreted Kierkegaard variously as an existentialist, neo-orthodoxist, postmodernist, humanist, and individualist.
Crossing the boundaries of philosophy, theology, psychology, and literature, he is an influential figure in contemporary thought.... Show more