AnyBook4Less.com	Find the Best Price on the Web Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money Keyword AuthorISBN

Title: Kierkegaard's Philosophy by John Douglas Mullen ISBN: 0-8191-9803-X Publisher: University Press of America Pub. Date: 19 April, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00

Your Country USA Canada United Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Currency AutoUSD CAD GBP EUR AUD CHF Delivery Only cheapest delivery All delivery options Include Used Books Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 5 (4 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Destined to be a classic...
Comment: Along with James Collins' THE MIND OF KIERKEGAARD, Professor Mullen's study is a comprehensive yet concise exploration of Kierkegaardian thought and its implications. The book is divided into two parts. CONTEXT: which is a discussion of fundamental Kierkegaardian propositions and jargon. And APPLICATIONS: which presents concrete examples of these ideas as lived or ignored/defied. The focus of CONTEXT is an explanation of WHAT IS A PERSON AFTER ALL? Here is SK's metaphysical assertion that Man is Spirit...a dynamic, tension-defined RELATION (p. 44) of the Self to its continually renewing potential as a free person. Mullen frequently draws on SK's "Concept of Dread" (existential anxiety) and despair, "The Sickness unto Death" to propose the Kierkegaardian formulation of authentic life and humanity as a task (not a permanent niche; cache of possessions, or plateau of knowledge, wealth or power). A THEORY OF HUMAN CORRUPTION (chapter 5)is a disturbing, theoretical explication of SK's meta-ethics that assert man...to protect/realize his personhood...must acknowledge the essential PARADOX of his own being. To wit: he is a finite creature with "infinite" desires and possibility with yearning for infinite goodness. He is also (often quite comfortably)capable of choosing ...by action or inaction...evil which distorts or damages the very Image (logos/Self) he would actualize as fully human. Part 2, APPLICATIONS presents brief but telling elaborations on the numerous "escape routes" many choose to AVOID or DEFY the task of being an individual. Some of Mullen's examples are patently obvious; others are surprisingly...and threateningly...subtle. The final chapter, BEGINNINGS, barely profers a "solution", ironic and demanding, of where the pursuit of AUTHENTIC SELF...in the uncompromising belief of Soren Kierkegaard...must lead. Professor Mullen's study of the thinker who is regarded by many as the seminal expositor of modern existentialism (the philosophy of THE PERSON) is, I believe, destined to be a classic. KIERKEGAARD'S PHILOSOPHY: Self-Deception and Cowardice in the Present Age, has been out of print for 15 years. Its republication is an opportunity for the careful reader not only to learn, but to experience a prodding to renewal that just might make this authentic, "melancholy Dane" smile with approval and hope......

Rating: 5
Summary: An Must Prerequisite for Kierkegaard's Works
Comment: As a technical person just beginning philosophy study, this book was recommended as a prerequisite. It is that and more. Very well written. John Mullen obviously knows his Kierkegaard and communicates the essence of his works very fluently and clearly. I am grateful that I was directed to this book before tackling the personal philosopher himself. This book is a road map and indispensable reference. It is not light or humorous -- in keeping with the subject matter -- but it is very engaging and readable. I do intend to re-read it to extract the finer points I missed the first time.

Rating: 5
Summary: "It hurts so good . . . "
Comment: I just finished reading the book. It is still sinking in. I thought I had understood what little I had read of Kirkegaard. I know now I was seriously wrong and that I must reacquaint myself with his works and thought.

The margins of my copy (which I stole from my brother) are full of observations of relevance to my "style" of living. In one case, under the discussion of "The Group - In One Dimension," in VERY LARGE LETTERS, I wrote "OUCH! That hurts!" This is an illustration of the degree to which Mullen and his subject can pierce your armour.

While I will not agree with Kirkegaard's stance on Christianity as the only possible life of faith, I see where there is a need for "faith" in something larger than ourselves--whatever we deem that something to be--so as to round out what all too often turn out to be one dimensional existences, focused on the immediate.

After letting the book sink in some more, I intend to browse through it again . . . and to have it handy when I open Either/Or to READ it for the "first" time.