Kierkegaard's Authorship: On the Loss and Recovery of Meaning

Course content

This English language course offered by the Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre at the University of Copenhagen is open to Danish students as well as international students interested in contemplative reading and discussion of the works of Copenhagen’s most radical author, Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). His authorship assumes that just under the surface of everyday awareness, the modern individual experiences herself as someone fragmented, fractured, misaligned, imperfect, incomplete, splintered, and cracked. Something isn’t quite right inside, even if it’s difficult to say exactly why. Kierkegaard suggests that this sense of misalignment in intensified by the fact that the inherited value systems that make life negotiable have lost their authority over us. On the one hand, this means we gain greater freedom from the limitations imposed by tradition and history. On the other hand, we sense a profound uncertainty, even anxiety, about the choices we make as we face an open future. This freedom can be both invigorating and foreboding. His entire authorship can be viewed as an exploration of various reactions to this fundamental insight.

 

His thoughts about the struggle for meaning take us through unusual philosophical territory. His works—which are as novelistic as they are philosophical—treat themes like the existential meaning of anxiety and despair, beauty and boredom, humor and seriousness, the sicknesses and health the soul, the joy and pain of embodiment, and, finally, commitment and love.

 

Education

The course is planned with physical attendance, but can also be accessed as live streaming of registered participants.

Written
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
ECTS
15 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment
Type of assessment details
Undergraduate requirements (bachelor students):

Requirement to pass the course for undergraduate students (bachelor students): Active attendance (at least attendance in 75% of the class-sessions, documented by protocol). The syllabus volume and content are determined by the teacher, and three to five assignments are handed in to the teacher on each 9,600-12,000 characters, ie. 4-5 pages, as well as a final major assignment, which has s size of 19,200-24,000 characters, ie. 8-10 pages, and based on 400-500 pages literature in agreement with the teacher. The assignments are assessed by the teacher and the final assessment is given after the 7-point grading scale.

Graduate requirements (kandidat/master students):

Requirement to pass the course for graduate students (kandidat/master students): Active attendance (at least attendance in 75% of the class-sessions, documented by protocol). The syllabus volume and content are determined by the teacher, and three to five assignments are drawn on each 9,600-12,000 characters, ie. 4-5 pages, as well as a final major assignment, which has a size of 26,400-36,000 characters, ie. 11-15 pages, and is based on 800-1000 pages of literature in agreement with the teacher. The assignments are assessed by the teacher and the final assessment is given after the 7-point grading scale.
Marking scale
7-point grading scale

Single subject courses (day)

  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 28
  • Preparation
  • 122
  • Exam Preparation
  • 150
  • Exam
  • 120
  • English
  • 420

Kursusinformation

Language
English
Course number
TTEASK030U
ECTS
15 ECTS
Programme level
Full Degree Master
Bachelor
Bachelor choice
Full Degree Master choice
Part Time Master
Duration

1 semester

Placement
Autumn And Spring
Price

Studerende under Åbent Universitet LINK

Schedulegroup
Mondays 12-15

Autumn 2023

First day is Monday 28 August

Spring 2024

First day is Monday 22 January
Studyboard
Study board of Theology
Contracting department
  • Theology
Contracting faculty
  • Faculty of Theology
Course Coordinator
  • Mads Peter Karlsen   (3-72757045796a747133707a336970)
Teacher

Mads Peter Karlsen

Saved on the 28-04-2023

Are you BA- or KA-student?

Are you bachelor- or kandidat-student, then find the course in the course catalog for students:

Courseinformation of students