Kierkegaard & Spinoza – een kort literatuuroverzicht [2]

In het vorige blog verwees ik naar een uitvoerige, zeer informatieve eindnoot in • Etienne Kuypers, “Filosoferen als Ethische bezinning. Een confrontatie tussen Spinoza en Wittgenstein in epistemologisch opzicht.” In: Dezelfde (red.), Sporen van Spinoza. Garant, 1993 – books.google. Ik had deze graag willen ‘embedden’, maar daaraan doet Google niet meer.

De literatuur over Kierkegaard & Spinoza is schaars.  

In dit blog zal ik een overzicht brengen van de – goed beschouwd toch – tamelijk beperkte hoeveelheid literatuur uit vooral de laatste jaren – mét de toelichting waarom dit zo is.

Michael Strawser, geeft daarvoor redenen aan in de Inleiding op zijn Kierkegaard and the Philosophy of Love [2015], waaruit ik hier enige passages aanhaal:

“An alternative view to the traditional reading of modern philosophy could be offered, however, and one that is doubly at odds with the common interpretation. On this view, Spinoza, could be dignified with the title of "the first modern philosopher" rather than Descartes. [Verwijst naar Wolfson]. More importantly, he could be read as essentially a philosopher of love, one who sees love as having central importance in his philosophy. Unfortunately, we can only imagine the effect this reading of Spinoza would have had on the development of modem philosophy, for instead of a view expressing the primacy of emotions and the momentousness of the active emotions for living the good life, the primacy of metaphysical and epistemological truth has dominated our understanding of modern philosophy.

Spinoza's philosophy is significant for expressing a nuanced, multifaceted view of love that is ultimately defined as an active emotion based on reason and ultimately derived from the eternal God. But it is also important for the ways that it is related to Kierkegaard's philosophy of love, despite the fact that Spinoza and Kierkegaard are fairly consistently presented by professors of philosophy as being at odds. After all, consider their differences. Kierkegaard, born a Danish Christian, is, as the professors teach us, a great "existentialist" thinker—one who advocates an unsystematic leap into irrationalism through faith in an absurd, transcendent God. Whereas we are taught that Spinoza, born a Dutch Jew, is a rationalist par excellence—one who is focused on the pursuit of systematic objective knowledge of an immanent God. Could these differences be any greater?

Although briefly and perhaps superficially expressed, these differences might seem to preclude any serious scholarship on these two thinkers, and thus the secondary literature on the relationship between Spinoza and Kierkegaard is scant. Clare Carlisle's recent article [cf. hierna] offers the best, and to date only, overview of this relationship. Carlisle's list of "Secondary Literature on Kierkegaard's relation to Spinoza" includes only eight sources: three in French, two in German, one in Spanish, and two in English, both of which are PhD dissertations from the early 1960s. Although Carlisle's list may not be exhaustive,  it does witness to a serious lack of interest and a perceived lack of connection between these two thinkers. I contend, at the very least, that this double-lack deserves critical attention.
After all, although the references to Spinoza in Kierkegaard's writings are "relatively few and far between," he did read "the philosopher of Amsterdam" and engaged with his ideas. The Auction Catalogue of Kierkegaard's Library includes the 1830 Latin edition of Spinoza's complete works as well as fifty-one works that discuss Spinoza. Carlisle shows that "Kierkegaard read Spinoza's obscurer works in addition to the well-known Ethics and Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, and most of his own pseudonymous texts contain some mention of Spinoza." Carlisle examines these passages to show what Kierkegaard thought of Spinoza's philosophy, but as this work has already been well-done, and since my main focus is not on the historical question, I wish to suggest a different path. A path of love.
Kierkegaard writes in his Journals that "in order to see one light determinately, we always need another light." And in Works of Love he writes that "one man may do the very opposite of what another does; but if each one does the opposite out of love, the opposites build up." Thus, I consider it worthwhile to explain, however briefly, Spinoza's philosophy of love as it may serve as another light and edifying opposition to raise readers' awareness of what is required in pursuing the path of eternal love, which is ultimately the common goal of both thinkers. As we shall also see on many points throughout this work, our understanding of the philosophy of love can be deepened by considering the relations between Spinoza's and Kierkegaard's thinking.” [p. 2-3.
Hierna volgen paragrafen over Spinoza’s resp. Kierkegaards visie op liefde]
Dit was een aaneensluitend deel uit de Inleiding van:

• Michael Strawser, Kierkegaard and the Philosophy of Love. Lexington Books, 2015 –books.google
Eerder schreef hij het volgende artikel waarvan het PDF te vinden is.

• Michael Strawser, “The Ethics in Love in Kierkegaard and Spinoza and the Teleological Suspension of the Theological." In: Philosophy Today, 51/4 (2007), pp 438-446 [PDF]

Strawser verwijst naar en maakt gebruik in zijn geciteerde inleiding van:

• Clare Carlisle, “Baruch de Spinoza: Questioning Transcendence, Teleology and Truth”. In Jon Stewart (ed.), Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources, Volume 5: Kierkegaard and the Renaissance and Modern Traditions, Tome I: Philosophy. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2009, pp 167-194 –books.google *) Twee citaten:

“What do Kierkegaard and Spinoza have to do with one another? Spinoza is a systematic philosopher who emphasizes reason, objective knowledge, necessity, eternity, and immanence; Kierkegaard is a resolutely unsystematic philosopher concerned with faith, subjectivity, freedom, temporality, and transcendence. Furthermore, as a Jewish thinker regarded by some as an atheist, Spinoza is excluded from Kierkegaard's critique of misguided interpretations of what it truly means to be—or, more precisely, to become—a Christian. Admittedly, both philosophers focus on God, but their perspectives could not be more different, and whereas Spinoza's God is absolutely intelligible, Kierkegaard's remains an absolute paradox.
And yet, Kierkegaard read Spinoza's more obscure works in addition to the well-known Ethics and Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, and most of his own pseudonymous texts contain some mention of Spinoza. So why was Kierkegaard interested in Spinoza, and what did he think of Spinoza's philosophy?” [p. 167]

“while Kierkegaard believes in a paradoxical, transcendent God, distinct from nature, and suggests that becoming religious involves the surrender of the understanding, Spinoza equates God and nature and regards understanding as the way to blessedness.” [p. 184]

In hetzelfde jaar waarin het boek van Strawser uitkwam, verscheen bij Springer van Steven Shakespeare, Kierkegaard and the Refusal of Transcendence. Hij geeft een heel andere visie op Kierkegaard. Zijn laatste hoofdstuk heeft de auteur bij academia.edu gepubliceerd, althans in de vorm van een lezing die hij gaf:

• Steven Shakespeare, “Kierkegaard, Spinoza, and the Intellectual Love of God.” Chapter 7  In: Idem, Kierkegaard and the Refusal of Transcendence. [Palgrave] Springer, 2015 – books.google --  academia.edu

 Tenslotte nog te vermelden:

• Hélène Politis, “Les Papiers de Kierkegaard consacrés à Spinoza.” In: André Tosel,  Pierre-François Moreau,  Jean Salem (Dir), Spinoza au XIXe siècle. Publications de la Sorbonne, 2008  | p. 403-414 aldaar in z’n geheel te lezen[cf. blog]

• Marcio Gimenes de Paula, A figura de adão no Tratado teológico-político de Espinoza e no conceito de angústia de Kierkegaard. In: Revista Conatus - Filosofia de Spinoza 2, 3 (2008), 51-60

• Samantha M. Schroeder & Dr. Nguyen, "On the Concepts of God in Spinoza and Kierkegaard: A Teleological Relevance of the Theological." – blog April 18, 2010

• Anne Chantal, “Kierkegaard lecteur de Spinoza et la question de l'éternité.” In: Spinoza and Descartes: J. M. Beyssade, W. Klever, M. Wilson (Special editorial team), Studia Spinozana, 10 (1994). Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, [1996], pp 135-153.

• Martin Hemelík, "Drobet filosofie aneb Kierkegaard a Spinoza [Tsjechisch; "A Shade of Philosophy or Kierkegaard and Spinoza"]. In: Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, 2005, vol. 2005, issue 5, pages 86-101 Abstract: The article sets out to reconstruct the Kierkegaard´s critique of the demonstrations of God´s existence by B. Spinoza. The Danish thinker elected the ideas of the Dutch philosopher for that reason that the spinozistic demonstrations represented the metaphysical approaches to the question of the God´s existence. M. Hemelík inquires into a rightfulness of this critique and he arrives at the conclusion that Kierkegaard´s critique has not the desired effect because the philosophical positions of both thinkers are absolutely different. Nevertheless the collation of Spinoza´s and Kierkegaard´s ideas about the God´s existence is very remarkable and it contributes to the inquiry of metaphysical thinking about perfect being and being on the whole. [CF.-  html en PDF]

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*) Iets meer over Clare Carlisle van wie ik gisteren haar tekst “Spinoza On Eternal Life” bracht.
Wat books.google van haar hoofdstuk “Baruch de Spinoza: Questioning Transcendence, Teleology and Truth” laat lezen, vind ik erg goed. Jammer dat die tekst (nog) niet in z'n geheel op internet te vinden is.
Dat de filosofe Clare Carlisle goed thuis is in Kierkegaard blijkt uit deze werken die ze schreef

• Clare Carlisle, Kierkegaard’s Philosophy of Becoming. Movements and Positions. Ney York: SUNY Press, 2005

• Clare Carlisle, Kierkegaard: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury Academic/Continuum, 2006.

The Guardian bracht van haar een serie van acht artikelen over Kierkegaard [hier de eerste op 15-3-2010] en daarna zo'n reeks artikelen over Baruch Spinoza [hier het eerste op 7-2-2011]. Cf. haar pagina bij The Guardian. Dit leidde tot een boekje over Kierkegaard (niet over Spinoza):
 

• Clare Carlisle, Kierkegaard's World: How to Believe. by Guardian Books [Guardian Shorts], May 19th 2013 - Kindle Edition, 27 pages [cf.]

Clare Carlisle’s pagina bij academia.edu