FEAR AND TREMBLING

REPETITION

by S0ren Kierkegaard

Edited and Translated

with Introduction and Notes by

Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

I

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HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

EULOGY

PROD

PRELIMINARY

PROBLEMA I Is rhe oft

PROBLEMA II Is rher,

PROBLEMA III Was Abraham to Cone,

Sarah, .from EI

Problema III

egory of the turning point. Therefore sometimes happens after one has been of it pro virili [with all one's mightJ, because it grew away from one, but nei be all too greedy for it, for one thing interesting, to have an interesting life, is . but a momentous privilege, which, lik~ the world of spirit, is purchased only·: Socrates was the most interesting man, life the most interesting life ever led, b allotted to him by the god [GudenJ, and self had to acquire it, he was not a str pain. To take such an existence in vaini

anyone who thinks more earnestly aboU' age we frequently see examples of sue' more, the interesting is a border categor territoryJ between esthetics and ethics. amination must constantly wander into ics, while in order to be of consequen problem with esthetic fervor and concu., ethics rarely involves itself with a questi son must be that the system has no roo: one could do it in monographs, and, not wish to go into detail, it could be' achieve the same result-that is, if one his power, for one or two predicates can Should there not be room in the system

In his immortal Poetics (Chapter 11),' /lev ol'iv toU /llrf}otJ /lEQ'l, 1tEQl taut'

avayvwQLOL~ [two parts of the plot, th covery (recognition), are on matters 0

course, only the second element that co YVWQLOL~, recognition. Whenever and w, to speak of recognition, there is eo ipSo.i Just as the recognition is the resolving, in dramatic life, so hiddenness is the te: What Aristotle develops earlier in the gard to the various merits of tragedy,

lAlII

'aham to Conceal His Under­'ezer, and from Isaac?

sal;! as the universal it is in lividual, qualified as imme­he hidden. Thus his ethical i hiddenness and to become time he desires to remain in immersed in spiritual trial by disclosing himself. tle point. If there is no hid­he single individual as the the universal, then Abra­

led, for he disregarded the f there is such a hiddenness, cannot be mediated, since

ngle individual as the single ersal, whereas the universal an philosophy assumes no incommensurability. It is, disclosure, but it is a little

:ard Abraham as the father . Faith is not the first im­The first immediacy is the ilosophy certainly may very e esthetic, or else faith has ,s existed. o consider the whole ques­It end enter into an esthetic ier to give his entire atten­, part shall adapt my com­'ry I shall consider in more that especially now-since

[at a turning point in his­Lt, for it is actually the cat­

84 Fear and Trembling

way l'tEQLl'tE'tELU and avuyvwQLOL\; carambolere [converge], as well as what he writes about the single and the double rec­ognition, I cannot deal with here, even if tempted by its in­teriority and its quiet absorption, especially tempting to one who for a long time has been weary of the superfIcial om­niscience of the survey writers. A broader comment may have its place here. In Greek tragedy, the hiddenness (and as a result of it the recognition) is an epic remnant based on a fate in which the dramatic action vanishes and in which it has its dark, mysterious source. Because of this, a Greek tragedy has an effect similar to that of a marble statue, which lacks the potency of the eye. Greek tragedy is blind. There­fore it takes a certain abstraction if one is to be influenced by it properly. A son murders his father,6 but not until later does he learn that it was his father. A sister is going to sac­rifIce her brother7 but realizes it at the crucial moment. Our rtiflecting age is not very concerned with this kind of tragedy. Modern drama8 has abandoned destiny, has dramatically emancipated itself, is sighted, gazes inward into itself, ab­sorbs destiny in its dramatic consciousness. Hiddenness and disclosure, then, are the hero's free act, for which he is re­sponsible.

Recognition and hiddenness are also an essential element of modern drama. It would belabor the point to give exam­ples. I am suffIciently courteous to assume that everyone in our age--which is so esthetically voluptuous, so potent and inflamed, that it conceives just as easily as the partridge that, according to Aristotle,9 needs only to hear the cock's voice or its flight over her head-I assume that everyone who merely hears the word "hiddenness" will easily be able to shake a dozen novels and comedies out of his sleeve. I can therefore be brief and promptly suggest a rather broad observation. 10

If anyone in playing the hiding game, and thereby providing m the piece with dramatic yeast, hides some nonsense, we get a 133 comedy; but if he is related to the idea, he may come close

to being a tragic hero. To cite just one example of the comic: a man puts on makeup and wears a wig. The same man is eager to make a hit with the fair sex and is sure of success

with the aid of the mak', gether irresistible. He c happiness. Now comes to admit to his decepti he reveals himself as a not thereby lose the bd for which esthetics also of knowledge is no Eri him to laughter. This ill suggest what I mean; t terest for this investiga .

The road I must take through esthetics and et. hiddenness and the par ilarity.

A few examples. A without the pair's havin each other as yet. Her (she may also be motiva' her parents, keeps her I other unhappy, and no fers." -A young swain the object of his longin word will compromise, stroy a whole family. "The girl must never fmd happiness with ano sons, both of whom loveds, are also hidde markable higher unity hiddenness is a free act, to esthetics. But esthetics of knowledge that kno manager. What does it the lovers. By a coinci prospective marriage ge imous decision. There' other and also a place a

bolere [converge], as : and the double rec-if tempted by its in­

ially tempting to one If the superficial om­oadcr comment may ne hiddenness (and as ; remnant based on a ishes and in which it use of this, a Greek marble statue, which

gedy is blind. There­is to be influenced by ', 6 but not until later sister is going to sac­crucial moment. Our I this kind of tragedy. ny. has dramatically lward into itself, ab­ness. Hiddenness and t, for which he is re­

, an essential element ~ point to give exam­ume that everyone in ItUOUS, so potent and as the partridge that,

hear the cock's voice everyone who merely Iy be able to shake a leeve. I can therefore broad observation. 10

nd thereby providing ne nonsense, we get a • he may come close :xample of the comic: ig. The same man is nd is sure of success

Problema:

now come to the tragic hero anj to consider Iphigenia in Aulis b~ about to sacrifice Iphigenia. ~

Agamemnon, inasmuch as it wo~

to seek comfort from any other itude for the women he ought as possible. On the other hand hero also has to be tried in the tears of Clytemnestra and Iphi esthetics do? It has a way out' readiness to disclose everyt'· everything is in order.

But ethics has no coinciden disposal. The esthetic idea cont be implemented in actuality. Fo disclosure. The tragic hero de in that he himself, not prey nounces Iphigenia's fate to her. hero is ethics' beloved son in w remains silent, it may be because' it easier for others, but it rna makes it easier for himself But; If he remains silent, he takes a [I the single individual, inasmuc ment that may come from 0

cannot do this, because ethics I that he always expresses the quires courage, but part of thi~

avoid any argument. Now it is> dreadful argumentum ad homine. opponent's personal circumsta by nothing may well be move: genia is permitted to weep; in mitted, as was ]ephthah's daug not in solitude but at her fath "which is tears alone," and to olive branch around his knees

Esthetics demanded disclos

g

r heroic resolution, es­f battled their intention s. As a matter of fact, t time; be it jest or ear­hetics. f that coincidence or of lye such a fleeting con­'ent face on the matter. :, for it has pure cate­lce, which of all ridicu­ous; far from making a knows nothing higher

ncidence; consequently, loes not trifle with dig­Iity on the hero's frail ls wanting to play prov­Inces his wanting to do :lieving in actuality and the sufferings of actual­ons that he on his own mself. It warns against ns of the understanding, ancient oracles. It warns -let actuality handle it­•then ethics itself offers was anything more pro­were earnest about the ~ something will surely :lp them. It is offended 1m it, a secret that they reslJonsibility. lenness and rewarded it; unished the hiddenness. 5 itself demands disclo­: illusion, thinks to save it demands silence and : action has a disturbing ands disclosure. I have

.. These movements and positions'· presumably may still become subjects for esthetic treatment, but to what extent faith and the whole life of faith can be that, I leave undecided here. Inasmuch, however, as it is always a joy for me to thank anyone to whom lowe something, I shall only thank Lessing for the several hints about a Christian drama found in his Hambur­gische Dramaturgie. 17 But he fixed his eyes on the purely divine side of this life (the consummate victory), and therefore he had doubts; perhaps he would have formed another judgment if he had been more aware of the purely human side. (Theologia viatorum [theology of wayfarers].)" What he says is undeniably very brief, somewhat evasive, but since I am always very happy when I can find an opportunity to include Lessing, I promptly do so. Les­sing was not only one of the most comprehensive minds Germany has had, he not only displayed an extremely rare precision in his knowledge, which enables one to rely on him and his autopsies without fear of being taken in by loose, undocumented quotations, half-understood phrases picked up in unreliable compendiums, or of being disoriented by a stupid trumpeting of something new that the ancients have presented far better-but Lessing also had a most uncommon gift of explaining what he himself had understood. With that he stopped; in our day people go further and explain more than they themselves have understood.

incidence; ethics demanded disclosure and found its' fulfill­ment in the tragic hero.

Despite the rigorousness with which ethics demands dis­closure, it cannot be denied that secrecy and silence make a man great simply because they are qualifications of inward­ness. When Amor leaves Psyche, he says to her: You will bear a child who will be divine if you remain silent but will be human if you betray the secret. IS The tragic hero, who is the favorite of ethics, is the purely human; him I can under­stand, and all his undertakings are out in the open. If I go further, I always run up against the paradox, the divine and the demonic, for silence is both. Silence is the demon's trap, and the more that is silenced, the more terrible the demon, but silence is also divinity's mutual understanding with the single individual.

Before proceeding to the story of Abraham, I shall sum­mon a pair of poetic individualities. With the power of di­alectics, I shall hold them at the apex, and by disciplining them with despair, I may prevent them from standing still, so that in their anxiety they may possibly be able to bring something or other to light."

.. According to Aristotle, the histori venge, the family places a temple vess is condemned as a temple thief. But not whether the family is ingenious or gains ideal significance only to the ext, of the hero. Moreover, it is fateful eno trying to avoid it by not marrying an the divine in a double manner-first by' by being condemned as a temple thief.

In his Politics, 19 Aristotle tells turbance in Delphi that grew bridegroom, to whom the augurs p have its origin in his marriage, s crucial moment when he comes to married. More than this I do n_ could hardly come to pass wit' make use of it, he no doubt 0

thy. 20 Is it not dreadful that t exile in life is now deprived 0

this not give the lie to the old sa in heaven? Generally, it is all t finitude that, like evil spirits, w love has heaven on its side an triumphs over all enemies. Her, rates what heaven itself, after a would have suspected this? Le a moment ago she was sitting iJJ and the lovely maidens had so c could feel justified before the " not merely have joy from it b was impossible for them to beel was impossible for her to be m her room and was transforme every feminine art available wa worthy one. Yet one thing was maidens had not dreamed of-a' and yet more concealing veil th ens had enveloped her, a bridal knew anything about or could. the bride did not understand h

Fear and Trembling88

I\[

136

and found its' fulfill­

1 ethics demands dis­:y and silence make a l1ifications of inward­lays to her: You will remain silent but will ile tragic hero, who is nan; him I can under­t in the open. If I go radox, the divine and e is the demon's trap, 'e terrible the demon, lderstanding with the

.braham, I shall sum­V'ith the power of di­:, and by disciplining n from standing still, .ibly be able to bring

y may still become subjects and the whole life of faith however, as it is always a nething, I shall only thank rama found in his Hambur­~ purely divine side of this d doubts; perhaps he would more aware of the purely yfarers].)'B What he says is Ice I am always very happy Jg. I promptly do so. Les­e minds Germany has had. n in his knowledge. which hout fear of being taken in :tood phrases picked up in by a stupid trumpeting of

ar better-but Lessing also Ie himself had understood. lier and explain more than

he has made the girl guH known of the prophecy, sb her assent to such an allia he will have to bear not sponsibility for remaining his remaining silent. (2) Sb married? In that case, he whereby he will destroy thetics perhaps would san' then be shaped along the li it would eventuate in a nevertheless would come . thetic point of view requirl . of knowledge finds itself a But however noble this c the girl and the reality of b must not forget, of course. renunciation of his love to trated business venture. If comes an unhappy love am Valborg.*23 They become a

• For that matter, it is possible point. Heaven prophesies that his could indeed dispense with getting girl; he could live in a romantic than adequate for the lovers. This, girl, for he is not expressing the it would be a subject for both a po marriage. Generally, if poetry inwardness of individuality, it w' those with which it busies itself n poetry: A man is bound to one . loved properly, for he has seen an a mistake in life; it was the right across the street on the second fi subject for poetry. A lover has m artificial light and thought she had is a blonde--but her sister is the i, poetry. In my opinion, any man can be unbearable enough in life b

bling

that finds its pleasure in er in it without her know­egroom walking by on his lor shut after him, and she ;ful, for she knew that he er. The door of the temple ~ver dropped her eyes in : that his countenance was 1 seemed to be envious of appiness. The door of the saw the bridegroom come

:ountenance was disturbed, ride. Then she advanced in like a mistress surrounded

:> curtseyed to her as young us did she stand at the head d-it was only a moment, the bridegroom came-but

~t, and I go at things only note that the hero obtains lment. Therefore he is un­s not irresponsibly bound let place, he has the divine lore correctly, against him; inionated sagacity as fickle lrse, makes him just as un­more so, because he is the hat the augurs predicted a :ion is whether this disaster ting him it will also affect uld he do now? (1) Should

thinking: Maybe the dis­r, and in any case I have :ared to make myself un­)r otherwise even this brief sible but definitely is not, gainst the girl. In a sense,

Problemal I

the augur's pronouncement is in! but also to all and does not ev to the divine. He can do what predicted will happen. He does tion to the divine either by do· does not become the object of The outcome will be just as un the hero, and there is no secret decipher. If he wants to speak, he can make himself understan it is because in the capacity of wants to be higher than the uni self with all sorts of fantastic id forget this sorrow etc. But if th declared to him by an augur, ifi quite privately, if it had entered to him, then we are in the pres· is any at all (for my deliberation not speak, however willing he would not enjoy his silence but this indeed would be the assur his silence would not be due to as the single individual in an ab but to his having been placed absolute relation to the absolute. would also be able to find inn noble silence would always be the ethical. It would be altoget sometime attempt to begin w ended-in the illusion of rna this, it would be working ha for this is the only power that its battle with the ethical. Qu state her love for Essex by si was a heroic act, even though sentment involved because he is known, he had in fact done ing had held it back. It is said,

1mbling

land the separation is to be because it, too, results from :at difficulty in the dialectics , is supposed to strike only they do not achieve a com­Ig, whereas heaven separates Ise they are equally close to here, then there would have )es not use any visible force p to them, it is conceivable , to defy heaven along with

leak. His heroism, then, es­, the esthetic magnanimity, ever, cannot easily be imag­le vanity that is implicit in y must be clear to him that ~he reality of this heroism is Id canceled it; for otherwise :specially in our day, which ill in the forgery that does t lies between. still get no further than the ~r all, possible that it could c. Everything depends upon room stands to the augurs' ray or another will be deci­lcement publici juris [public ivate matter]? The scene is :nt is understandable by all. not only can understand the to understand that an augur the single individual. Thus

passion against passion provides a minutiae within the same passion. a girl, after having fallen in love,

a sin and prefers a heavenly love, lCtic, because her life is in the idea.

Agnes has won, and the m can she be his; he cannot because he is indeed only a of changing'" the merman also changed Agnes a littl~ entirely without guilt, sin .. game-playing and an ins seduction in which the gil, cent. To modernize my idi, is a woman who demands that can always be sure 0

mermen discover this kin them like the shark after say-or perhaps it is a ru circulate--that so-called tion. No, existence is mor, only one means, and that'

* The legend could be treated has seduced many girls before,' He is no longer a merman, or, if who for some time now has sat grieved. But he knows-as the I, by the love of an innocent girl. does not dare to approach them. he has already seen her many captured by her beauty, her quiet sadness, not wild desire. And whispering of the rushes, she s dreams; she is lovelier than any guardian angel who inspires the courage, approaches Agnes, wins Agnes is not a quiet, tranquil g' sad sighing of the waves gave h,

raged more violently. She wan into the infinite with the merm merman. She disdained his hu sea roars and the waves froth, a and plunges into the abyss with full of lust, because in this girl he tired of Agnes, but no one has mermaid who lured men with h,

'rembling

md sat for ten days with one nd not saying one word, and d be a subject for a poet who .people; otherwise, it can best th whom the poet frequently

ch along the lines of the de­le legend about Agnes and the ~ducer who rises up from his seizes and breaks the innocent : in all her loveliness and with : to the soughing of the sea. pretation26 until now. Let us las a seducer. He has called to words has elicited what was lhe found what she was seek­Or as she stared down to the willing to go with him. The \gnes throws her arms around soul, she gives herself to the lding on the beach, crouching unge down with his booty-more, not fearfully, not de­

ad luck, not intoxicated with in absolute humility, like the

elf to be, and with this look o him in absolute confidence. oars, its wild voice is stilled; merman's strel!gth, forsakes l-and Agnes is still looking nan breaks down. He cannot ce, his natural element is dis­lee Agnes. He takes her home y wanted to show her how 1m, and Agnes believes him. sea is wild, but not as wild seduce Agnes, he can seduce

lke any girl infatuated-but

Problema

• Esthetics sometimes treats a similar way. The merman is saved by Agnes, happy marriage! A happy marriage-that to speak at the wedding, I think it would the cloak of love over the merman, and superficial to believe that marriage is lilt, sold in whatever condition it is when the ics just sees to it that the lovers find eac about the rest. If only it would see what time for that and promptly proceeds to Of all the branches of knowledge, estb who has really loved it becomes in one, never loved it is and remains a pecus [du

designs his deception, the less A suffering from him; she will u will not be without effect-that i of tormenting him.

With the assistance of the dem would be the single individual was higher than the universal. quality as the divine, namely, t able to enter into an absolute rel ogy, the counterpart to that par has, therefore, a certain similari Thus, all the anguish the mer proof that his silence is justified. that he can speak. So if he spea, hero, in my opinion a grandiose, haps few who grasp what consti then have the courage to divest he can make Agnes happy by his age, humanly speaking, to crush like to make just one psychologic selfi.sWy Agnes has been develo deception will be. Indeed, it is n life the demonic ingenuity of a Agnes, humanly speaking, but extraordinary from her, for a de

an consciousness and an preexistence,31 in pped. There is noth­he step he now takes e seducer is crushed, lcence, he can never es struggle over him: epentance alone gets repentance get him,

y repentance and he Agnes unhappy, for

:ven when he seemed concealed it, she still :hed to show her the Ie, in his passion the nhappy, for he loved md in addition had a I repentance probably hment, and the more

Ilent, he perhaps will ust as in a sense one -Ie knows that Agnes ay from Agnes, then ? The merman is too sion will arouse her cite all the dark pas­ler, to make her love pride. He 32will spare contradiction in the ever so much more

1 people. The more 11 be deceived (for it nk that it is easy to found, and it is easi­all the more terrible

nore ingeniously he

pline, but if it affirms sin, then it has Philosophy teaches that the immedial This is true enough, but what is not t the immediate,33 any more than fait diate. 34

As long as I move around in thes easy, but nothing of what has been ham, for Abraham did not become way of sin-on the contrary. he was " chosen one. The analogy to Abraha parent until after the single individu position where he is capable of fu now the paradox repeats itself.

Therefore, I can understand the man, whereas I cannot understand cisely by way of the paradox that point of wishing to realize the univer and is initiated into all the anguish of a demoniac and as such is destroye but does not sagaciously think that in the bondage of repentance he can' he no doubt finds peace but is lost comes disclosed, if he lets himself he is the greatest human being I ca esthetics that thoughtlessly supposesl oflove by having the prodigal be lov' thereby saved; it is only esthetics t and believes that the girl is the herl

merman. The merman, therefore, without, after having made the infi ance, making one movement more: of the absurd. He can make the under his own power, but he also U:

for it and therefore cannot possibly power and grasp actuality again. If; sufficient passion to make either skulks through life repenting a little will come out in the wash, 'then hl"!

Problema III

g

leople, and in his own th a person. I apex. If he is rescued re are two possibilities. hiding, but not depend as the single individual demonic, but he finds

that the divine will save !'\ges would make the ;)f thinking the merman nastery.) Or he can be nterpreted to mean that 'om becoming a seducer :ue attempt that always y in the merman's life), saved insofar as he be­

1\gnes. He must, how­other words, when the

Ile outside the universal, ring come as the single . the absolute. Now here hat says more than has Sin is not the first im­

I sin, the single individ­n of the demonic para­, a contradiction on the md itself from a person ldispensable condition]. phy were also to think o want to act according ge kind of comedy out completely futile disci-

my reference to the question 'rk is centered on Abraham, tegories-that is, insofar as I ethics founders precisely on I expression, but precisely as

this is of small concern in, has attained the highest, been so much at the mer is inconceivable that it h generatio aequivoca [self-pr given birth to its hero, 1

the dreadful theatrical pie laugh and forget that it . other value does existence one has already attained And what higher move that entering the monaste wretched worldly wisdo in the place of honor, tha ing that they have perfo them from even attemp . made the monastic move the movement of the abs stand what the absurd is? a way that they have ren everything? How many a what they are able to do And is it not true that if t are most likely to be fo part among women? The clairvoyance, just as a d understanding himself, fo the comic. If this were ac then the theater perhaps one's dying for love is m haps be more salutary fo among us, if the age we so that for once it could power of the spirit, the c the better side of itself, j, through laughter. Should the ridiculous Erscheinung der to fmd something to

, Trembling

ld in this way he can very easily others achieve it as well-that

, into thinking that things hap­in a game in which everything t is amusing to think how odd nortality of the SOUP6 can be so rhen everyone can achieve the as actually made just the move­bts. The conclusions of passion l-that is, the only convincing here more affectionate and loyal r it excludes no human being, o one, for in the world of spirit himself. It is everyone's opin­ted to make a judgment about to enter a monastery is not the therefore believe that everyone Iters the monastery, is greater 1s who found rest in a monas­nave sufficient passion to think lves honestly? The very idea of Ie this way, of taking the time lee every single secret thought, lways make the movement by est in him, he may in anxiety 'Orth-if in no other way, then lotions hiding in every human :h others one so easily forgets, ed in so many ways, get the this thought alone, conceived ~lieve, chastise many a man in :eady attained the highest. But

this, and yet, oddly enough, even in less reflective paganism the two au­~w of life, yvG>th OQVT6v [know your­t, by penetratingly concentrating on ~rs the disposition to evil. I scarcely agoras and Socrates.J7

Prohl

long as eyes can see] (cr. Lo has become unhappy in love, that; Sarah was that before sh to fmd the person to whom" unspeakably grievous not to girl gives herself, and then i free. But Sarah was never frl herself. It is grievous if a gi but Sarah was deceived befo of sorrow will come as a marrying her! What weddiJ als! No girl has been as defr defrauded of the highest blisc,

by even the poorest of m sured, unlimited, unbound, there should indeed first be heart and liver of the fish on must the mother take leave herself is defrauded of eve mother of the most beautifi prepared the chamber, an wept, and she received her to her: My child, take hea may exchange your sorro-..1 And now comes the time i

we can read at all through, shut and they were togethc said: Rise up, sister, and w mercy upon us (8:4).

If a poet read this sto hundred to one that he wo young Tobias. The heroic life in such obvious dangl

again, for the morning aft, Send one of the maids to can bury him and no one courage would be the sub' Tobias behaves gallantly

g

:ter would remind it of

plot is wanted, because : in motion, one could :.38 The young Tobias . of Raguel and Edna. She has been given to

he bridal chamber. For for the comic effect is of a girl's seven futile e was very close to it, his examination seven :ot lies elsewhere, and lrtant and in a certain Ise the young Tobias's because he is his par­

le appalling aspect ob­lis must be put aside. 'een in love, who still her prodigious, enor­~briefzum GlUcke" [full ,] to love a man with . than anyone else, for loves her will kill her lave read about many found a grief as pro­ut if the unhappiness ill to be found. If ex­that which could have o know that he could omable grief that no unt of time can cure--­rexistence did every­ly much in his simple 6d~ 'EQwta eqlUyev ij I! ~A.brW<JLV [For there ;cape love, and never uty shall be, never so

Problema Ii

loved on the wedding night. He demonic, inclose himself up in hi demonic nature speaks in secret: ceremonies and complexities; I do love at all, for I can in fact Ire delight in seeing maidens die on rule, we get to know very little though this is a subject that has a especially in our time, and even knows anything at all about m monic-can use practically any' In that kind of thing, Shakespe That horrible demoniac, the m speare has depicted but also dep Gloucester (later Richard IlI)­moniac? Apparently his inability tl upon him from childhood. His Richard III42 has more value than" which have no intimation of the of their explanation.

. . . Ich, roh gepragt, und all Vor leicht sich dreh'nden Ny Ich, so verkiirzt urn schemes Geschandet von der tiickische Entstellt, verwahrlost, vor de In diese Welt des Athmens, h Gemacht, und zwar so lahm Dass Hunde bellen, hink' ich

[I, that am rudely stamp'd, a To strut before a wanton am I, that am curtail'd of this fam· Cheated of feature by dissem Deform'd, unfmish'd, sent h Into this breathing world, sc And that so lamely and unfa That dogs bark at me as I h

mbUng

ourage for that is a milksop • or what it is to be a man s not even grasped the little than to receive and has no lat it is far more difficult to e has had the courage to do ss did not prove a coward. " She is the one I want to eel any girl or been tempted )f whom I have read. For e willing to let oneself be rming one in all innocence beginning has been a dam­! What ethical maturity to y ofpermitting the beloved lat humility before another he would not in the very om she owed everything! d the demonic is immedi­~ture can bear everything, mnot bear sympathy. In it inflicted on a person only rer become the object of it can bear the punishment ~out guilt from his moth­as a sacrifice to sympathy, ~s he cannot endure. Sym­:mands guilt one moment why being predestined to lore dreadful the more the to the spiritual. But Sarah

ey to every suffering and by human sympathy, for

I Tobias loved her, even I saying: The poor girl! ; let him learn that if he :ome and murder the be­

• If we do not wish to use a doubter. for example, an ironist whose sharp eye dicrousness of life and whose secret und, sure of what the patient desires. He know ter. and if he wishes to use it, he is sure is more, of his own happiness. He knows up to restrain him, but he knows that he men can still be made to seem earnest mo secretly they yearn to laugh with him; he made to hold the fan momentarily before knows that she is laughing behind the f; completely opaque; he knows that one can he knows that when a woman flutters her'

Problema 1.

~for such dementia is the sufferingl I the expression, if I dare say so, 0

~genius aspect is the expression ofi beginning the genius is disorient \' versal and is placed in relation to in despair over his limitations (w. his omnipotence to impotence), s and for this reason does not wish or to men, or whether he religious for the divine. Here are the psycb it seems to me, one could joyfully' yet we seldom hear a word about between mental derangement an strued from the other? In what s' the genius master of his mental dl out saying that up to a point he . would actually be insane. But sue. and a high degree of ingenuity, fi nor person is very difficult. If 0

reading a few authors of the grea sible just once, although with gr little.

To take yet another case, let us . by being hidden and by remainin universal. For this I can use the J, doubter, "" an apostate of the spirit'

Problema 1.

• If we do not wish to use a doubter, for example, an ironist whose sharp eye dicrousness of life and whose secret unde: sure of what the patient desires. He know!' ter, and if he wishes to use it, he is sure is more, of his own happiness. He knows up to restrain him, but he knows that he· men can still be made to seem earnest mo secretly they yearn to laugh with him; he made to hold the fan momentarily before " knows that she is laughing behind the f: completely opaque; he knows that one can' he Iinows that when a woman flutters her

~ For such dementia is the suffering ~!the expression, if! dare say so, 0

genius aspect is the expression of ~beginning the genius is disorient ~i versal and is placed in relation to ~. in despair over his limitations (wl his omnipotence to impotence), s ". and for this reason does not wish

()r to men, or whether he religiou for the divine. Here are the psych it seems to me, one could joyfully yet we seldom hear a word about between mental derangement an strued from the other? In what s, the genius master of his mental dl out saying that up to a point he . would actually be insane. But sue and a high degree of ingenuity, fi " rior person is very difficult. If 0

reading a few authors of the grea sible just once, although with gr little.

To take yet another case, let us' by being hidden and by remainin universal. For this I can use the doubter,* an apostate of the spirit

mbling

nnot be saved by mediating cs actually only makes sport tnting of Sarah for ethics to press the universal and get re basically in the paradox, mperfect than other people, In the demonic paradox or me and again people have , trolls, etc. are malformed Ie has an inclination, when attach to him the idea of injustice, since the relation Ice itself has damaged them, children perverse. The de­limself has no guilt, has its set outside the universal by . Thus Cumberland's Jew43

Ie does good. The demonic for men, a contempt, please tloniac himself to act con­le has his strength in his II those who judge him. , the poets ought to be al­111. God only knows what ~oung versifiers is reading! learning rhymes by heart. , have in this world! At this rom them other than that the immortality of the soul, to oneself what Baggesen44

e: Ifhe becomes immortal,

:ah, chiefly with regard to with an imaginary presup­~n with a psychological in­of the old saying: Nullum Ie aliqua dementia [No great ,orne touch of madness]. 45

ProbJ

and if someone wants to de has passed through doubt, he one who has made a movem sequently an infinite moveml the response whether it isa· speaking or a Miinchhausen.~

to do with his Huns, Faust kn! to rouse men up horrified, ~ their feet, to split men apa~ sound everywhere. And if hl erlane; in a certain sense he is! of thought. But Faust has a ~ istence, his soul knows no e stop the fury he certainly rostratic honor48-he remai carefully in his soul than th love under her heart, he tri step with other men, but consumes and thus brings versa!.

Now and then, when so up a whirlwind of doubt, w, had remained silent. Faust fi a notion of what it means knows what the hunger of doubter hungers just as m for the nourishment of spi ity that all Faust's agonies it is not pride that has poss a precautionary measure, just as Gregory of Rimini mentor of infants] because fants, I could be tempted mentor of heroes], for I ami tormenting heroes. faust s chosen lust, for my Faust Margaret not in Mephisto her adorable innocence,

I Trembling

pretation, and although it is re­very age has its Faust, neverthe­undauntedly walks this beaten

,ange. Faust is the doubter KaT'

~ has a sympathetic nature. Even I miss a profound psychological ~nversations with itself In our perienced doubt, no poet as yet 'ection. I feel like offering them I to write the sum total of their ,they would scarcely write any odated on the top margin. t into himself can doubt take on Jes he actually discover within loubt. Then he knows that it is :e, but he also knows that the en live are not grounded in the lsily explained as an unreflected Ibter, he is higher than all this,

ormation about the way laughter sneaks md once it has taken up residence, it such an Aristophanes, such a slightly

thetic: he loves existence, he loves men, ation by laughter may rear up a new, ie a great number of his contemporaries nt and as far as possible forgets himself ilent? There may be some who simply which I speak. They presumably think remain silent. I cannot agree at all, for if he has not had the magnanimity to

:e. Consequently, I demand this mag­lare he then remain silent? Ethics is a d it was surely possible that Aristoph­:d to let laughter pass judgment on the Jt help, because one does not venture I remain silent, he must enter into the

. example, that someone has an expla­K)llains it in a lamentable way, and yet idence in this hero without suspecting

.

mildly, but here, as everyw ments take place normativd doubter-even though by s tune possible down upon th to these wretched sweet-too want to cure doubt without a rule are themselves the chi· wildty and uncontrollably.52 thing into disorder, for even' not find that out until later, person either in the mome responsibility.

If he remains silent on his sumably act magnanimously, trial to his other agonies, fi torment him and say: You shi going to be sure that your r, cryptic pride?

But if the doubter can be, as the single individual stan absolute, then he can get aut case, he must make his dou within the paradox, but the may have another doubt.

Even the New Testament! lence. There are even places . irony, provided that it is u But this movement is just a thing else that is based on higher than actuality. Our thing about this; on the w more about irony than was enough, did not understand against it, which our age ha~ it has to guard itself again~ Mount,55 it says: When youl your face, that your fasting1 passage shows clearly that ~

, fall in love with her. estroyed actuality for ~ is not one of those ur every semester on do everything else, as :he spirit or the power doubter hungers just

'lr the nourishment of nd remains silent and does he tell Margaret

00 ideal a figure to be oke he would prompt )le affair would pass this or perhaps that.

5 the dormant comic Faust into an ironic

ase after doubt in our we that they actually tl diploma-or swear prove it by once hav­e couriers and sprint­ily pick up a little tip bing about faith from ess] in the best man­~gation wants to have a fIgure to go around ; not have an infmite as an infmite passion rubbish. He remains :speaks in the aware­disorder. demns him, saying, , and you acknowl­~u dare not to have ;ervation should not judged severely be­judge such conduct

Problema III

ment, it demands disclosure. The speak but will not.

The authentic tragic hero sacrifio that is his for the universal; his act belong to the universal; he is open is the beloved son of ethics. This does nothing for the universal and,

Now we are face to face with th gle individual as the single individ relation to the absolute, and cons the highest, or Abraham is lost: nor an esthetic hero. 57

Here again it may seem that t and easiest of all. May I repeat, h remains convinced of this is not a and anxiety are the only justifica"' is not conceivable in general, for

celed. Abraham remains silent-but h

the distress and anxiety. Even th and day without interruption, iO stood when I speak, then I am nO with Abraham. He can say every not say, and if he cannot say tha way that the other understands it, The relief provided by speaking' the universal. Now, Abraham ca in the most beautiful words to But this is not what is on his that he is going to sacrifice him one can understand the latter, misunderstand the former. The this dis tress. In the first place, every counterargument has had everyone an opportunity to sta nestra, Iphigenia, Achilles, the every voice from humanity's b alarming, every incriminating, e

Ir and Trembling

,at it has the right to deceive. If only ,out these days talking loosely about I would read the New Testament, lme other ideas. 56

-how did he act? For I have not r will please remember, that I got discussion to make that subject an ham could thereby become more lfder that the incomprehensibility :nt, for, as I said before, I cannot can only admire him. It was also f the stages described contains an ,were explained, while being dem­own sphere, only in order that in n they could, as it were, indicate :>wn territory. If there is any ques­st be the paradox of sin, but this and cannot explain Abraham and

n than Abraham. eak, he did not speak to Sarah, or 'ypassed these three ethical author­e ethical had no higher expression

d demanded, silence of the single by remaining silent he could save ately shows that Abraham is not ics. His silence is certainly not in his whole task of sacrificing Isaac s sake is an offense to esthetics, and that I sacrifice myself but not e for my own sake. The esthetic :, ethics passed judgment on him Count of his accidental particular­:ience that led him to remain si­ms. Any human knowing of that :hics demands an infinite move­

also confess that I do not would gladly renounce ev ther if it were even possib come that far. At every m repent of the whole thin speak out, and everybody but then he is no longer A

61 Abraham cannot speak, would explain everything that it is an ordeal such t temptation. 62 Anyone pIa grant from the sphere of say the next thing. To r, oped earlier, Abraham m the infinite movement of r, no one can understand b next, at every moment, This is his consolation. In will not happen, or if it Isaac, that is, by virtue of ever, comes to the end of father's resolve; she herse resignation, and they noW can understand Agame expresses the universal. her, "Although the god d, possible that he would n the absurd"-then he wo to Iphigenia. Ifhe could 5

ing, Iphigenia would ve result Agamemnon woul ment of resignation and " soothsayer's declaration is is a vaudeville.

6350 Abraham did not has been preserved, his that he had not said an where the lamb is for tb

tted to be said against '-and to fight against ght against oneself is

.ving overlooked any­t cry out as King Ed­of Clarence:58

em Grimm gen? sprach von Liebe?*

my wrath) dvis'd? poke of love?]

dreadful responsibility 'onsolation that he can

Iphigenia59-and tears that cannot be uttered t concentrate his whole to act, and then he still This Abraham cannot his words would pro­'orId, he dares not to mId not Eliezer, would nt to do it, then? After distress he wanted to f all that he held dear ible consequence might Id take offense at him ik he cannot; he speaks mderstood all the lan­loved also understood )eaks in a divine lan­

y well. I can admire reading this story will ngle individual. But I

in a suffering (in death), he b last word bcforc he dies, wh does not become immortal Un'

Socrates can be used as an e tragic hero. His death sentence' moment he dies, for anyone it takes the whole power ofth always dies before he dies w' view of life. As a hero Socratl and collected, but as an intelle to have enough spiritual stren summate himself. He cannot, • concentrate on self-control in must make this movement as is instantly and consciously b himself. Thus, if Socrates had he would have diminished th a suspicion that the elasticity 0

power but a game, the resilienl an inverted scale in order to crucial moment.

These brief suggestions are' ham if one expects to be ab' analogy an appropriate final w apply if one perceives the nec< mate himself in the [mal mo lently but to have a word to he has absolute significance 0

in advance any idea of what said it, I presumably can und,

• There can be various opinions as be regarded as decisive. inasmuch as in so many ways. I suggest the follo~ to him, and in that same moment he ~ over death and consummates himseltj surprised to have been condemned bYl not have bantered more ironically wi! with the foolish comment of an idiCl condemns him to death.

Ib for the burnt ofTer­

il these last words by rhole event would lack ds, everything perhaps

my pondering whether suffering or in an ac­

as I can see, it depends longs, whether his life his suffering or action

~ic hero, like any other say a few words in his

,ppropriate words,66 but for him to say them. If 11 act, then he has noth­s essentially chatter, by whereas the tragic con­task in silence, whether Irder not to wander too ment example. If Aga­d have drawn the knife denleaned himselfifin

w words, for the mean­ous to everybody, the notion, and tears was I no relation to spirit­less of the spirit. How­oriented to spirit, then ;h his impact. What he 'ords, a short declama­)f his statement is that ive nloment. An intel­ave and ought to retain , the same transfigured but one word is still

ro like this culminates

ham knows. Now, if Abraha ing-he would have spoken an thing, for what he knows he c God himself will provide the my son! From this we see, as d ble-movement in Abraham's so had merely relinquished Isaac have spoken an untruth, for he demands Isaac as a sacrifice, an this very moment is willing tOj made this movement, he has at movement, has made the move absurd. Thus he is not speakin tue of the absurd it is indeed something entirely different. S truth, but neither does he say a, a strange tongue. This becomes consider that it was Abraham Isaac. 73If the task had been di manded Abraham to bring Isaac he could have his lightning s sacrifice in that way, then Abra justified in speaking as enigma himself could not have known But given the task as assigned to act; consequently, he has to what he himself will do, and c, that Isaac is going to be sacrifi for sure, he would not have m resignation; then his words cert~ is also very far from being Abr4 icance than a tragic hero-ind~ olution who cannot make up hit and for that reason always speak that, however, is merely a paro~

Here again it is apparent that Abraham, but only in the way c I, for my part, perhaps can und

said without thereby 'receding exposition. >, I could have imag­Ile, and if I had been laged it, but no poet

iVords more closely, I\braham to manage ove, the distress and icular to the silence: >elf-contradiction to : him out of the par­~e decisive moment Ilullifies all that pre­Isaac in the decisive ; would simply be a en he ought to have Iless then would be y and concentration land but had shoved e actual agony was y speaking thus, he :lox, and 7°if he ac­I have had to change otherwise he could lot even be a tragic

l preserved, and in­:an also understand First and foremost, m he says what he form of irony, for

md still do not say e belief that Abra­

provided by the death lad to consummate the '0 he said: It is better to 1,71

Once when the price of spices in had a few cargoes sunk in the s price. This was an excusable, per tion. Do we need something si . Are we so sure that we have ac there is nothing left for us to d, ourselves into thinking that we h ply in order to have something t the kind of self-deception the pres it be trained in a virtuosity alongl stead, adequately perfected in the ~ rather, does it not need an honestl and incorruptibly points to the t that lovingly maintains the tasks, • pIe into wanting to attain the hi, ' the tasks young and beautiful and; to all and yet also diffIcult and ins (for the noble nature is inspired 0

ever one generation learns from a' the essentially human from a pre each generation begins primitivd what each previous generation ha ther, insofar as the previous gen task and deceive themselves. The sian, in which one generation pe and understands itself. For exampll to love from another, no genera· other point than at the beginning more abridged task than the pre desires to go further and not stop generation did, this is foolish and

But the highest passion in a p~ generation begins at any other poUl

Ia>~in this way, br:aham did; but i oflittle impor­ld only marvel. liet on the tragic 1him. And that e jury that every ion-it gave the ::mld understand e remained true eds no tears, no love. Indeed, so ould not be the himself did not :ognizes distress

lingle individual e relation to the

ter) does not come to a S1

be indignant if anyone would resent it if someo in love; for, he would a still. I have my whole li does not go on to some' then he has another expl:

4"One must go furthe to go further is an old obscure, who deposited books in Diana's tempI mor in life, and therefo goddess), Heraclitus th through the same river t disciple who did not re ther-and added: One c ditus, to have a disciple Heraditean thesis was a denies motion, and yet t

ciple of Heraclitus who aditus had abandoned.

* KaL 1to~a\lOii !?On ImEL)(a~OIV

t~a['l, [He compares being cannot go into the same river 158.

** cr. Tennemann, Gesch. d.;

mbling

ill over again; the next gen­the previous one, that is, if nd did not leave it high and S, of course, something that the generation does indeed D do with the fact that the ~ task, unless this particular it, presumptuously assumes it who rules the world and me weary. If the generation ronder, then, that all exist­surely is no one who found ailor who, according to the tile alive and contemplated t. As long as the generation which is the highest, it can­i always adequate for a per­vacation have already played It. and impatiently ask: Can't -does this show that these d more advanced than the : previous generation who t all day long? Or does it ren lack what I would call ng to play? I person. There perhaps are ) not come to faith, but no also are many in our day

ide. I dare to refer only to he has a long way to go, ive himself or what is great )d disease one may wish to : life has tasks enough also Ile to faith, and if he loves : wasted, even if it is never /\Tho perceived and grasped bas come to faith (whether 11 and simple does not mat­