Summary

In the short, concluding epilogue, de Silentio returns to the themes outlined in the preface. He reiterates the claim that faith is the highest possible human passion suggesting that each generation essentially begins at the same place and must choose between the stages of existence. “Each generation begins all over again,” he writes, and goes on to argue that faith must be discovered anew by each singular individual within the context of their single, unique situation. One must always go further, beyond the aesthetic and beyond the movement of infinite resignation characteristic of the tragic hero. Those few that are able to enact the double movement, by virtue of the absurd, attain the position of the religious and, like Abraham, become knights of faith.

Analysis

This concluding section displays Kierkegaard’s abiding interest in ancient Greek philosophy. In the preface, he critiques modern philosophy...