C. Stephen Evans provides a clear, readable introduction to Søren Kierkegaard (1813–55) as a philosopher and thinker. His book is organised around Kierkegaard`s concept of the three ‘stages’ or ‘spheres’ of human existence, which provide both a developmental account of the human self and an understanding of three rival views of human life and its meaning. Evans also discusses such important Kierkegaardian concepts as ‘indirect communication’, ‘truth as subjectivity’, and the Incarnation understood as ‘the Absolute Paradox’. Although his discussion emphasises the importance of Christianity for understanding Kierkgaard, it shows him to be a writer of great interest to a secular as well as a religious audience. Evans’ book brings Kierkegaard into conversation with western philosophers past and present, presenting him as one who gives powerful answers to the questions which philosophers ask.

• Organized around Kierkegaard’s idea of the ‘three stages of existence’, a concept that forms the basis for many courses on his work • Presents Kierkegaard as a writer of interest to secular as well as religious people • Brings Kierkegaard into conversation with western philosophers past and present

Contents
1. Introduction: Kierkegaard’s life and works; 2. Pseudonymity and indirect communication; 3. The human self: truth and subjectivity; 4. The stages of existence: forms of the aesthetic life; 5. The ethical life as the quest for selfhood, 6. Religious existence: religiousness; 7. Christian existence: faith and the paradox; 8. Kierkegaard’s dual challenge to the contemporary world.