SOURCE: "Kierkegaard: The Singular Universal," in Between Existentialism and Marxism, 1972, reprinted in Modern Critical Views: Søren Kierkegaard, edited by Harold Bloom, Chelsea House, 1989, pp. 75-98.

In the following essay, Sartre appraises Kierkegaard's work, commenting in particular on Kierkegaard's views on history and subjectivity. Sartre also examines the way Kierkegaard was influenced by his environment and notes the relevance of Christian dogma to Kierkegaard's thought.

The title of our colloquium is "The Living Kierkegaard." It has the merit of plunging us to the very heart of paradox, and Søren himself would have appreciated this. For if we had gathered here today to discuss Heidegger, for example, no one would have dreamed of entitling our debate "The Living Heidegger." The living Kierkegaard, in other words, turns out to mean "the dead Kierkegaard." But not just this. It means that for us he exists, that he forms the object...