HDCB00111U Søren Kierkegaard and the Challenge of Existence

Kierkegaard and the challenge of existence is a course in English for international students offered each semester. Søren Kierkegaard is the most famous Danish philosopher – praised by people like Sartre. The course examines central parts of Kierkegaard’s writings. These will be used as a key to the basic content of his thinking such as existence, despair, love and passion. Søren Kierkegaard claimed to present a complete summary of all the possible ways in which we can live our lives or exist. At the same time, he analyzed and criticized these ways thoroughly in order to judge to what extent they can give us a true point of orientation. Every lecture presupposes a short reading and will have sufficient room for discussion. The course also includes a city walk, which can be characterized as a walk through Kierkegaard’s life. We will visit some of the places Kierkegaard frequented as well as some of his former residences in Copenhagen and thereby get to know details of his odd personal life. (The course does not presuppose specialized knowledge.)

www.culturecourse.ku.dk