Over the past week, I’ve been entrenched in Joakim Garff’s biography of Kierkegaard. Here is an interesting note regarding Kierkegaard’s impromptu response to the King of Denmark over the king’s worries about communism:
It will be a battle between one class and another, but it would always be in the interest of the hostile parties to have good relations with the monarch. The same problem had occurred in ancient times and was recurring now, and it was easy to see that the king would in a way be beyond the fray. There would be hostilities like those in a house, between the cellar and the ground floor and between these two and the next floor, et cetera, but they would not attack the landlord.
Garff, Kierkegaard, pg. 483
I’m not sure exactly what to make of this, other than the fact that apparently Kierkegaard was not very well informed about communism in 1847 (when this encounter with the king took place).
How was it that the Danish king worried about communism prior to Marx’s manifesto?
This is an interesting quote. I’ve studied Kierkegaard for 7 or 8 years and wrote my masters thesis on him but I have never heard of this exchange. Do you happen to know what Garff’s sources were?
One of the problems I had with the Garff book is that the lack of citations. (Actually, I should say that this is probably one of the chief problems many SK scholars have with it). If I can track something better down, I’ll be sure to post it.
Ya, the cool thing about quoting Kierkegaard is that his work is so vast that you could say just about anything and claim that he said it. Sort of like the quotation liberties people take with Ben Franklin.
At any rate, if the source does turn up I would be interested in checking it out.
Cheers.
Dave, I stalked you and found your blog.
Two things, (1) I miss Northfield. true story. (2) Didn’t SK attend Schelling lectures with Engels in Berlin? I thought I read that at one point.
Hope things go well for you this semester. I’m thinking we need to have a reunion in Denmark one day. I’ll bring gravy.
I miss Northfield, too. Gravy in Denmark sounds good.
Yes, SK attended lectures w/Engels in Berlin, and according to Garff’s biography, it’s possible that Marx was there as well (as far as I remember).
Best of luck with senior year, and with applying to schools. If you think I can be helpful with the process, don’t hesitate to contact me.