Steven Shakespeare, Kierkegaard, Language, and the Reality of God

Abstract

In Soren Kierkegaard, Language and the Reality of God, Steven Shakespeare "aims to explore Kierkegaard's theological language throughout his authorship, published and unpublished, in the light of his more general views on the nature and function of language." Shakespeare argues that Kierkegaard's view of language is linked "inextricably" to his use of it; his strategy of indirect communication reveals his assumption that all communication is indirect. Kierkegaard's writings illustrate his presupposition that language, while not the origin of sin, at the least presupposes sin and is constrained by finitude. Kierkegaard's understanding of language situates him between epistemological realism and anti-realism in that it "disturbs the whole basis upon which realist and anti-realist conclusions are drawn." Kierkegaard's unshakably orthodox Christology undercut his otherwise sensible convictions regarding the constraints of finite language. In distinguishing his view from religious realism, Shakespeare contests what he calls "Christian narrativism," interpretations of Kierkegaard that underscore his Christian orthodoxy.