Four Upbuilding Discourses, 1844
The Søren Kierkegaard statue in the Royal Library Garden og Slotsholmen in Copenhagen, Denmark
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| Author | Søren Kierkegaard |
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| Original title | Fire opbyggelige Taler |
| Translator | David Swenson, Howard V Hong |
| Country | Denmark |
| Language | Danish |
| Series | First authorship (Discourses) |
| Genre | Christianity, psychology, theology |
| Published | 1990 Princeton University Press |
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Publication date
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August 31, 1844 |
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Published in English
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1946 – first translation |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | ~110 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Concept of Anxiety |
| Followed by | Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions |
This is the last of the Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses published during the years 1843–1844 by Søren Kierkegaard. He published three more discourses on "crucial situations in life" (Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions) in 1845, the situations being confession, marriage, and death. These three areas of life require a "decision made in time".
How does a person make a decision? Søren Kierkegaard had to make some decision. He had to decide if he wanted to get married after having already made the "sacred pledge". He had to decide if he would carry out the wishes of his father, Michael, and become a Lutheran preacher or teacher. He made "negative" resolutions regarding these promises he had made. Perhaps some thought he should remain true to his word.
This word "resolution" is the core of Kierkegaard's idea behind the leap of faith. His question is: Who can make a positive or negative resolution for another? A resolution is best made by the single individual in the quietness of his or her soul through the inward struggle rather than the struggle with external forces.
This discourse has to do with a psychological view regarding the process of decision making and making of vows for "existing" single individuals and has nothing to do with the crowd or with "noisy voting".
Søren Kierkegaard was born on May 5, 1813 and died on November 11, 1855. He kept a journal and he mentions a "Diary" in Either/Or and another in "Stages on Life's Way" with dates listed here and there. His preface to "Either/Or" says the following:
"The Diary has a date here and there, but the year is always omitted. This might seem to preclude further inquiry, but by studying the individual dates, I believe I have found a clue. Of course every year has a seventh of April, a third of July, a second of August and so forth; but it is not true that the seventh of April falls every year on Monday. I therefore have made certain calculations and have found that this combination fits the year 1834." Either/Or, Part I, Preface, p. 10 Swenson
Later, in Stages on Life's Way he wrote a "Morning" entry in the diary on May 4 about birth and on May 5 at "Midnight" an entry on Periander. Then on "June 18 at Midnight" he wrote about guilt. His mother Ane Kierkegaard was born on June 18. Then on July 7 at midnight he wrote about Regine. There is a genealogy of his family on the internet. He used dates in his discourses also.
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