Seminar
Kierkegaard’s
Philosophical Psychology: The Sickness unto Death
On the occasion of the 200th anniversary
of Kierkegaard’s birth and of the forthcoming translation of
The Sickness unto Death into Icelandic.
University of Iceland, Reykjavík,
Institute of Philosophy
May 22-24, 2013
Hosted
by the Institute of Philosophy, University of Iceland
Sponsored by The Nordic Network of Kierkegaard Research (NordForsk)
In
cooperation with The Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre
(Copenhagen)
The Sickness unto Death is
scheduled to appear in Icelandic translation in late 2013,
at the advent of Kierkegaard’s 200th anniversary. The work
will be published by the Icelandic Literary Society, which
was founded in Copenhagen in 1816. The society has
previously published Kierkegaard’s Repetition and
Fear and Trembling.
The goal of the seminar is to explore various themes in
Kierkegaard’s The Sickness unto Death, doubtless
one of Kierkegaard’s most systematic
and philosophical works. Not only did it capture the
dynamics and deep structures of consciousness, but it has
also provided a grounding for subsequent philosophical
analysis of imbalances and tensions within the self deriving
from the conflict between the finite and the infinite, the
free and the determined dimensions of human existence.
The seminar will include a session on the Icelandic
theologian
Magnús Eiríksson (1806-1881),
one of the first critics of Kierkegaard’s philosophy.
Program
Wednesday, May 22
Auditorium: Oddi 101
9:15-9:30 Opening Words: Vilhjálmur Árnason
Morning Session I: Psychology. Chairperson: Vilhjálmur
Árnason
9:30-10:15 Keynote Speaker: Arne Grøn (University of
Copenhagen), “The Subjectivity of Despair”
10:15:10:45 Discussion
10:45-11:15 Coffee/Tea Break
11:15-11:45 Claudia Welz (University of Copenhagen),
“Conscience, Self-Knowledge and Self-Deception in
Kierkegaard and Freud”
11:45-12:15 Tamar Aylat-Yaguri (University of Tel Aviv), “A
New Conception of Self in The Sickness unto Death”
12:15-12:45 Discussion
12:45-14:00 Lunch Break
Afternoon Session: Theology. Chairperson: Jon Stewart
14:00-14:30 Roe Fremstedal (Norwegian University of Science
and Technology), “Kierkegaard on Despair, Hope, and Faith”
14:30-15:00 Knut Alfsvåg (School of Mission and Theology,
Stavanger), “Incarnation and Offense: A Reading of The
Sickness unto Death”
15:00-15:30 Discussion
15:30 Reception
Thursday, May 23
Auditorium: Oddi 101
Morning Session: Psychology. Chairperson: Róbert Haraldsson
8:45-9:30 Keynote Speaker: Sigrídur Thorgeirsdóttir
(University of Iceland), “Multiple and Relational Selves in
Light of Kierkegaard’s Sickness unto Death”
9:30-10:00 Discussion
10:00-10:30 Coffee/Tea Break
10:30-11:00 Edward F. Mooney (Syracuse University), “The
Philosophical Psychology of Abyss and Grounding Power in
Kierkegaard’s The Sickness unto Death”
11:00-11:30 Jennifer Elisa Veninga (St. Edward’s University,
Austin, Texas), “Imagining Toward Wholeness: The
Kierkegaardian Self and Contemporary Trauma Theory”
11:30-12:00 Discussion
12:00-12:15 Coffee/Tea Break
12:15-14:00 Lunch Break
Afternoon Session: Exegesis.
Chairperson: K. Brian Söderquist
14:00-14:30 Laura Liva (Università G. D’Annunzio, Chieti),
“The Demonic in The Sickness unto Death”
14:30-15:00 Jakub Marek (Charles University, Prague), “On
Phantasy And Its Role In The Sickness unto Death”
15:00-15:30 Discussion
15:30-15:45 Coffee/Tea Break
15:45-16:15 Frances Maughan-Brown (Boston College), “The
Thorn in the Poet’s Flesh”
16:15-16:45 Pia Søltoft (University of Copenhagen),
“Self-Love and Despair”
16:45-17:15 Discussion
Friday, May 24
Auditorium: Oddi 101
Morning Session: History of Reception. Chairperson: Björn
Þorsteinsson
9:00-9:30 Hans Herlof Grelland (University of Agder), “The
Sickness unto Death and the Works of Henrik Ibsen”
9:30-10:00 Esben Lindemann (Professionshøjskolen UCC), “The
Influence of The Sickness unto Death on Martin A. Hansen”
10:00:10:30 Discussion
10:30-11:00 Coffee/Tea Break
11:00-11:30 K. Brian Soderquist (University of Copenhagen),
“If The Human Self Were Self-Established”
11:30-12:00 Jon Stewart (University of Copenhagen),
“Kierkegaard, Hegel and the Notion of Spirit”
12:00-12:30 Discussion
12:30-14:00 Lunch Break
Afternoon Session: Magnus Eiríksson. Chairperson: Vilhjálmur
Árnason
14:00-14:45 Panel Discussion on Magnus Eiríksson
14:45-15:15 Discussion
15:15-15:45 Coffee/Tea Break
15:45-16:15 Gerhard Schreiber (Goethe University, Frankfurt
am Main), “Eiríksson’s Relation to Kierkegaard Reconsidered”
16:15-16:45 Discussion
16:45-17:00 Closing Words: Vilhjálmur Árnason
Dinner
Download the program
here
→
Contact
Björn Thorsteinsson (bjorntho@hi.is)
and
Jon Stewart (js@sk.ku.dk)
Conference
The Existential Interpretation of Human Beings in Philosophy
and Psychology: Validity and Topicality
On Occasion of the 200th Anniversary of Kierkegaard’s Birth
European Humanities University, Vilnius
Center for Philosophical Anthropology
October 3-6, 2013
Sponsored by The Nordic Network of Kierkegaard Research (NordForsk)
In cooperation with The Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre
(Copenhagen)
The
interpretation of Kierkegaard’s contribution to the European
intellectual tradition is no longer framed in terms of his
identification as “the forerunner of existentialism”;
moreover, one of the key concepts of his thinking—that of
existence—has become accepted far beyond the historical
frames of the above mentioned philosophical school. Today,
scholars from different fields, in so far as they are
concerned with reflections about human reality, are faced
with the necessity of taking into account the existential
dimension of human experience as such. Remarkably, with
regard to this particular dimension, there seems to be some
more or less stable consensus regarding the meaning of the
definition “existential.” This implies that scholars share
some idea of human existence, which has remained persistent
after the long-term and profound criticism of concepts such
as “the subject” and “humanism.” At the same time, many of
the crucial social and intellectual processes characteristic
of our epoch seem to have a tremendous potential to cause
such changes in our life, which threaten to cause an
unpredictable suppression or distortion of the existential
dimension of human beings. When seen from the other side,
this dangerous situation means that it is the existential
dimension that authentically resists various destructive
tendencies of our epoch which concern both the individual
and social relations.
The conference has as its goal to reconsider the validity of
the existential interpretation of human beings from the
point of view of its relevance for different topical
problems and challenges of the contemporary world. This
involves all significant spheres of our life—such as health,
education, labor/work, social bonds, faith, sexuality,
self-realization and others. Thus, the whole tradition of
existential thinking—both in philosophy and
psychology—should be explored anew in the light of the
question of whether and why the existential vision is
important today.
Questions to be discussed will be:
• The concept of existence and the criticism of the idea of
the Subject in contemporary philosophy
• The genesis of the existential tradition (from Kierkegaard
to Levinas): unity and ruptures
• Existential phenomenology as method: introspection,
interpretation, dialectics
• Advantages and limits of the existential approach:
• existential hermeneutics and social theory
• existential hermeneutics and psychoanalysis
• The idea of authenticity in philosophy, psychology and
social theory
• Fundamental moods of human being and neuroses conditioned
by the epoch
• The existential interpretation of bodily experience and
challenges of newest medical technologies
• The lived body and the virtual body: the contribution of
existential phenomenology to the exploration of the role of
embodiment for human meaning-making
• Existence and co-existence: the questions of communication
and ethical relation to the Other in existential thinking
• Kierkegaard’s anthropology and the validity of his ideas
for psychotherapy
Contact
Tatiana Shchyttsova (tatiana.shchyttsova@ehu.lt)
and
Jon Stewart (js@sk.ku.dk)
