SOURCE: Hall, Ronald L. “Transcending the Human: A Kierkegaardian Reading of Martha Nussbaum.” International Philosophical Quarterly 34, no. 3 (September 1994): 361-73.

In the following essay, Hall discusses Kierkegaardian dialectics in relation to the philosophical ideas put forth by Nussbaum. Hall focuses particularly on Nussbaum's essay “Transcending Humanity” and Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling.

I. Introduction

In this essay, I propose to show that and how Kierkegaardian dialectics can be put to hermeneutical good work. My immediate purpose is to show this in relation to the thought of a contemporary American philosopher, Martha Nussbaum. More generally, I hope to suggest the positive heuristic value of Kierkegaardian hermeneutics; more concretely, I hope to imply the positive existential value of a Kierkegaardian dialectical framework for interpreting life.

I will focus here on Kierkegaard's resignation/faith dialectic, my understanding of which is derived mostly from Fear and Trembling.¹ Here Kierkegaard, writing under the pseudonym Johannes...