Kierkegaard at the Intersections: The Single Individual and Identity Politics
Kierkegaard’s authorship is frequently charged with being so radically individualistic that his work is of little use to social theory. However, in this essay, I argue that Kierkegaard’s notion of “the single individual” actually offers important critical resources for some aspects of contemporary i...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-07-01
|
| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/7/547 |
| _version_ | 1797526135749214208 |
|---|---|
| author | J. Aaron Simmons |
| author_facet | J. Aaron Simmons |
| author_sort | J. Aaron Simmons |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Kierkegaard’s authorship is frequently charged with being so radically individualistic that his work is of little use to social theory. However, in this essay, I argue that Kierkegaard’s notion of “the single individual” actually offers important critical resources for some aspects of contemporary identity politics. Through a focused consideration of the two notes that form the little essay, “The Individual” (published with <i>Point of View</i>), I suggest that Kierkegaard does not ignore embodied historical existence, as is sometimes claimed, but instead simply rejects the idea that one’s moral dignity is determined by, or reducible to, such embodied differentiation. Instead, what we find in Kierkegaard is a rejection of the quantitative judgment of “the crowd” in favor of the qualitative neighbor-love of community. In light of Kierkegaard’s claim that it is the specifically religious category of the single individual that makes possible true human equality, I contend that we can develop a Kierkegaardian identity theory consistent with some aspects of the standpoint and intersectionality theory of Patricia Hill Collins and Kimberlé Crenshaw. Although Collins and Crenshaw operate at a structural level and Kierkegaard works at a theological level, they all offer important reminders to each other about the stakes of lives of meaning in light of the embodied task of social justice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:25:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a3bd2d0046844a4dab9f61c197c066fc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:25:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-a3bd2d0046844a4dab9f61c197c066fc2023-11-22T04:50:09ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442021-07-0112754710.3390/rel12070547Kierkegaard at the Intersections: The Single Individual and Identity PoliticsJ. Aaron Simmons0Department of Philosophy, Furman University, Greenville, SC 29613, USAKierkegaard’s authorship is frequently charged with being so radically individualistic that his work is of little use to social theory. However, in this essay, I argue that Kierkegaard’s notion of “the single individual” actually offers important critical resources for some aspects of contemporary identity politics. Through a focused consideration of the two notes that form the little essay, “The Individual” (published with <i>Point of View</i>), I suggest that Kierkegaard does not ignore embodied historical existence, as is sometimes claimed, but instead simply rejects the idea that one’s moral dignity is determined by, or reducible to, such embodied differentiation. Instead, what we find in Kierkegaard is a rejection of the quantitative judgment of “the crowd” in favor of the qualitative neighbor-love of community. In light of Kierkegaard’s claim that it is the specifically religious category of the single individual that makes possible true human equality, I contend that we can develop a Kierkegaardian identity theory consistent with some aspects of the standpoint and intersectionality theory of Patricia Hill Collins and Kimberlé Crenshaw. Although Collins and Crenshaw operate at a structural level and Kierkegaard works at a theological level, they all offer important reminders to each other about the stakes of lives of meaning in light of the embodied task of social justice.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/7/547KierkegaardcommunityPatricia Hill CollinsKimberlé Crenshawpoliticssocial theory |
| spellingShingle | J. Aaron Simmons Kierkegaard at the Intersections: The Single Individual and Identity Politics Religions Kierkegaard community Patricia Hill Collins Kimberlé Crenshaw politics social theory |
| title | Kierkegaard at the Intersections: The Single Individual and Identity Politics |
| title_full | Kierkegaard at the Intersections: The Single Individual and Identity Politics |
| title_fullStr | Kierkegaard at the Intersections: The Single Individual and Identity Politics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Kierkegaard at the Intersections: The Single Individual and Identity Politics |
| title_short | Kierkegaard at the Intersections: The Single Individual and Identity Politics |
| title_sort | kierkegaard at the intersections the single individual and identity politics |
| topic | Kierkegaard community Patricia Hill Collins Kimberlé Crenshaw politics social theory |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/7/547 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jaaronsimmons kierkegaardattheintersectionsthesingleindividualandidentitypolitics |