Kierkegaard and the Problem of Self-Love
Cambridge University Press, 4/25/2013
EAN 9781107035614, ISBN10: 1107035619
Hardcover, 222 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm
Language: English
The problem of whether we should love ourselves - and if so how - has particular resonance within Christian thought and is an important yet underinvestigated theme in the writings of Søren Kierkegaard. In Works of Love, Kierkegaard argues that the friendships and romantic relationships which we typically treasure most are often merely disguised forms of 'selfish' self-love. Yet in this nuanced and subtle account, John Lippitt shows that Kierkegaard also provides valuable resources for responding to the challenge of how we can love ourselves, as well as others. Lippitt relates what it means to love oneself properly to such topics as love of God and neighbour, friendship, romantic love, self-denial and self-sacrifice, trust, hope and forgiveness. The book engages in detail with Works of Love, related Kierkegaard texts and important recent studies, and also addresses a wealth of wider literature in ethics, moral psychology and philosophy of religion.
1. Introduction
how should I love myself?
2. Cracking the mirror
friendship and the problem of self-love
3. Self-love in Works of Love
explicit references
4. The problem of special relationships
self-love's wider context
5. Another take on self-love
an excursus on Harry Frankfurt
6. Love's blank cheques
on self-denial and its limitations
7. Towards a more positive account of self-love, I
trust and hope
8. Towards a more positive account of self-love, II
self-forgiveness and self-respect
9. An immodest proposal
a coda on rehabilitating pride
10. Summary and conclusion.
Advance praise: 'This is the most important book on Kierkegaard and love to appear since Jamie Ferreira's classic Love's Grateful Striving; in particular, it offers the most detailed treatment available on the notion of proper self-love in Works of Love. This work also brings Kierkegaard directly into current debates in moral psychology regarding love for particular others such as family and friends, and their relation to forms of self-love. The discussions of forgiveness, including self-forgiveness and self-respect, are especially rewarding. Lippitt writes clearly and his analyses will be accessible to readers without a prior speciality in Kierkegaard, including anyone interested in theories of love and various forms of love in their own right - and especially in theological contexts.' John J. Davenport, Fordham University