About the Book

One of Kierkegaard’s central writings, Works of Love is a profound and indispensible examination of the human heart, in which the great philosopher conducts the reader into the inmost secrets of love. “Deep within every man,” Kierkegaard writes, “there lies the dread of being alone in the world, forgotten by God, overlooked among the household of millions upon millions.” Love, for Kierkegaard, is one of the central aspects of existence; it saves us from isolation and unites us to each other and to God. This new edition of Works of Love features an original introduction by Oxford theologian George Pattison.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-55) continues to exercise a wide influence on philosophy, literature, and theology. Many of his books were published under exotic pseudonyms, and explored different dimensions of life outside Christianity. These include Either/Or, Fear and Trembling and The Concept of Anxiety. He also wrote a number of more directly devotional works, including Works of Love, but in the last years of his life attacked the established Church in a series of polemical leaflets.

George Pattison is a professor of theology at Oxford University and is regarded as the leading authority on Kierkegaard.

“The father of existentialism, Kierkegaard asserted the primacy of the individual in all his or her raging contradiction”—New York Times

Critical Praise

“The one book in which all these aspects of Kierkegaard’s authorship flow together into a single work. . . . Works of Love is the central work in Kierkegaard’s entire authorship . . . Be warned! Works of Love is the kind of book that can change your life.” — George Pattison, Oxford University, from the "Introduction"

“By far the most profound thinker of the 19th century” — Ludwig Wittgenstein

“Kierkegaard’s great contribution to Western philosophy was to assert, or to reassert with Romantic urgency, that, subjectively speaking, each existence is the center of the universe. He offered himself as a corrective to idealism, from Plato to Hegel.” — John Updike, The New Yorker

“The father of existentialism, Kierkegaard asserted the primacy of the individual in all his or her raging contradiction” — New York Times

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Product Details

• ISBN: 9780061713279
• ISBN 10: 0061713279
• Imprint: Harper Perennial
• On Sale: 03/10/2009
• Trimsize: 5.310 in (w) x 8.000 in (h) x 0.900 in (d)
• Pages: 400
• List Price: $19.99
• BISAC1 : PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy
• BISAC2 : PHILOSOPHY / Movements / Existentialism
• BISAC3 : RELIGION / Philosophy