Published in International Philosophical Quarterly 44:4 December 2004
Kierkegaard's Non-Dialectical Dialectic
or
That Kierkegaard is not Hegelian
Henry B. Piper
A dialectic that mediates is a miscarried genius.
-- Johannes Climacus, Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments[i]
I. Introduction
Speculations on Kierkegaard's dialectic have been numerous and spirited. They typically begin, and too frequently end,[ii] with Hegel, and if one begins with Hegel one cannot but end there. Doubtless Kierkegaard owes Hegel a great debt, but the debt is a negative one, as Hegel serves Kierkegaard not as mentor but as foil. But the shadow of Hegel is long, and many of Kierkegaard’s commentators seem unable to escape it.