Kierkegaard, MacIntyre, Williams, and the Internal Point of View [Hardcover]

This book takes the debate about the (ir)rationality of the transition to ethical life in Kierkegaards thought in a significantly new direction. Connecting the field of Kierkegaard studies with the meta-ethical debate about practical reasons, and engaging with Alasdair MacIntyres and Bernard Williams thought, it explores the rationality of the choices for ethical life and Christian existence. Defending a so-called internalist understanding of practical reasons, Compaijen argues that previous attempts to defend Kierkegaard against MacIntyres charge of irrationality have failed. He provides a thorough analysis of such fundamental topics as becoming oneself, the ideal of objectivity in ethics and religion, the importance of the imagination, the power and limits of philosophical argument, and the relation between grace and nature. This book will be of great interest to Kierkegaard scholars in philosophy and theology, and, more generally, to anyone fascinated by the rationality of the transition to ethical life and the choice to accept Christianity.

1. Introduction.- 2. MacIntyres critique of Kierkegaard.- 3. Internalism about practical reasons.- 4. Kierkegaard on being human.- 5. Embracing ethical life.- 6. Entrusting oneself to Christian life.- 7. Conclusion.

Rob Compaijen is a postdoctoral researcher at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. He specializes in ethics, philosophy of religion, and 19th century thought, especially Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.

This book takes the debate about the (ir)rationality of the transition to ethical life in Kierkegaards thought in a significantly new direction. Connecting the field of Kierkegaard studies with the meta-ethical debate about practical reasons, and engaging with Alasdair MacIntyres and Bernard Williams thought, it explores the rationality of the choices for ethical life and Chló×