Previous Perspectives on Kierkegaard and Politics

Abstract

The perspective already developed on Kierkegaard as a political thinker is further articulated through a review of some of the main political interpretations of Kierkegaard. This includes discussion of the place of ethics in Kierkegaard, in reaction to those who narrow the place of politics in Kierkegaard’s thought by denying the relevance to ethics of the religious issues considered by Kierkegaard. It is argued that just as ethics inevitably overlaps with politics, so also Kierkegaard’s discussion of religion involves ethical and political considerations which cannot be isolated from his religious thought. Anti-political, nationalist, communitarian, conservative and liberal perspectives are discussed, in an approach leaning to a form of liberalism which interacts with those other perspectives.