The Thought Experimenting Qualities of Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling

Abstract

In this article, I examine the possible thought experimenting qualities of Søren Kierkegaard’s novel Fear and Trembling and in which way (if any) it can be explanatory. Kierkegaard’s preference for pseudonyms, indirect communication, Socratic interrogation, and performativity are identified as features that provide the narrative with its thought experimenting quality. It is also proposed that this literary fiction functions as a Socratic–theological thought experiment due to its influences from both philosophy and theology. In addition, I suggest three functional levels of the fictional narrative that, in different ways, influence its possible explanatory force. As a theoretical background for the investigation, two accounts of literary cognitivism are explored: Noël Carroll’s Argument Account and Catherine Elgin’s Exemplification Account. In relation to Carroll’s proposal, I conclude that Fear and Trembling develops a philosophical argumentation that is dependent on the reader’s own existential contribution. In relation to Elgin’s thought, the relation between truth and explanatory force is acknowledged. At the end of the article, I argue that it is more accurate to see the explanatory force of Fear and Trembling in relation to its exploratory function.

Managers on balancing employment protection and what’s good for the company: Intended and unintended consequences of a semi-coercive institution

“…Legislation has not come about in a peaceful manner in most countries but from power struggles between unions, labor parties, and employers as outlined in for instance, Emmenegger (2014, 2015a, 2015b), Calleman (1999: Ch. 2), Malm Lindberg (2019).…”