Religious Studies
- Religious Studies / Volume 46 / Issue 04 / December 2010, pp 489-508
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0034412509990436 (About DOI), Published online: 05 February 2010
Articles
Kierkegaard on emotion: a critique of Furtak's Wisdom in Love
JAMIE TURNBULLa1 c1
a1 Hong Kierkegaard Library, St Olaf College, 1510 St Olaf Avenue, Northfield, MN 55057
Abstract
In Wisdom in Love: Kierkegaard and the Ancient Quest for Emotional Integrity, Rick Furtak argues that emotions are cognitive phenomena to be understood in terms of the relation between subject and object. Furtak uses his conception of emotion to argue (in what he takes to be a Kierkegaardian spirit) that love is the source of meaning and value in human (and, specifically, Christian) life. This paper places Kierkegaard's views, and the role love plays in them, in his historical context. I argue that Furtak's approach fails to account for the subtle and complex role religious love plays in Kierkegaard's thought, and ultimately leaves him at odds with Kierkegaard methodologically and metaphysically.
Correspondence:
c1 e-mail: me@jamieturnbull.com
