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Romantic love is a defining phenomenon in human existence, and an object of heightened interest for literature, art, popular culture, and psychology. But what
is romantic love and
why is it typically experienced as so central? Sharon Krishek's primary aim in this work is to explore the nature of romantic love through the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard, and in doing so, to defend it as a moral phenomenon. She does so by developing a connection between love and
selfhood, here explained in terms of one's distinct individuality. To be a self, she claims, is to possess a "name," that is, an individual essence. It is when we love that we regard people by their names; we respond to who they truly are.
List of contents
- Introduction: A Neo-Kierkegaardian Project
- Chapter 1. Individual Essence
- Chapter 2. The Meeting of Essences
- Chapter 3. Love as a Joyful Compassionate Caring
- Chapter 4. Unselfish Love
- Chapter 5. Universal Love
- Chapter 6. The Failure to Love Correctly: Despair
- Chapter 7. Spiritual Romantic Love
- Conclusion: The Value of Romantic Love
About the author
Sharon Krishek is a Senior Lecturer in the philosophy department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the author of Kierkegaard on Faith and Love (Cambridge University Press, 2009) and Kierkegaard's Philosophy of Love (in Hebrew, Dvir Press, 2011), as well as numerous articles in journals and book collections. She is co-editor with Jeffrey Hanson of Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death: A Critical Guide (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming).
Summary
Romantic love is a defining phenomenon in human existence, and an object of heightened interest for literature, art, popular culture, and psychology. But what is romantic love and why is it typically experienced as so central?
Sharon Krishek's primary aim in this work is to explore the nature of romantic love through the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard, and in doing so, to defend it as a moral phenomenon. She does so by developing a connection between love and selfhood, here explained in terms of one's distinct individuality. To be a self, she claims, is to possess a "name," that is, an individual essence. It is when we love that we regard people by their names; we respond to who they truly are. Therefore, love is a correspondence between essences: if Jane Eyre loves Edward Rochester, she responds to him being "who he is," by virtue of her being "who she is." The conception of being thus correspondent has important implications as to the moral and spiritual value of romantic love.
Relying on Kierkegaard's analysis of the self, of faith, and of love--even if sometimes in a way that departs from Kierkegaard's explicit position--Krishek explores these implications, construing romantic love as a desirable phenomenon, emotionally, morally, and spiritually.
Additional text
Lovers in Essence would be intensely discussed and widely praised. As it is, Krishek's book is a major work by an author who elucidates with grace and force core themes from some of Kierkegaard's most challenging texts. Readers who care about love and personhood, and about the meaning of life, will find it immensely rewarding.
