Overview

"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."

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Sharon Krishek has given us an unusual defense of Kierkegaard's concept of Christian love. It is unusual insofar as it is driven by her substantial criticism of Kierkegaard's tendency in his late writings to devalue and dismiss preferential love as essentially selfish and hence as inferior to the higher universally distributed selfless neighbor love that Christianity seems to demand. As Krishek argues, this reduction of neighbor love to a Kantian-like abstract universal moral principle runs counter not only to the spirit of Christianity but also to Kierkegaard's own concept of faith, since it reduces the concrete individual to a nameless nobody in particular. Sharon Krishek's book will change your mind about Kierkegaard's Works of Love. * Ronald Hall, Stetson University, and editor-in-chief of the International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion * Sharon Krishek's Lovers in Essence is a thoughtful and invigorating attempt to apply Kierkegaardian themes and insights to our understanding of love, romantic and otherwise. Krishek's careful discussion of self, essence, and potential, and the account of love as a kind of joyful compassionate caring that she draws out of this cluster of ideas, adds something new and very interesting to contemporary philosophical discussions of love. The result breaks fresh ground while remaining true to the spirit of Kierkegaard, and will be of interest to anyone who is working on, or who is curious about, this topic. * Troy Jollimore, California State University, Chico * This book is both clearly written and closely argued. It shows an excellent knowledge of the philosophical and literary texts it engages with - but also a proper respect for, and sensitivity to, the emotional and personal complexity of the human issues at stake. I think it makes a significant contribution both to Kierkegaard studies and to the philosophy of love; and also offers a model of selfhood which should be of interest to philosophers generally. * Anthony Rudd, St. Olaf College *

Sharon Krishek has given us an unusual defense of Kierkegaard's concept of Christian love. It is unusual insofar as it is driven by her substantial criticism of Kierkegaard's tendency in his late writings to devalue and dismiss preferential love as essentially selfish and hence as inferior to the higher universally distributed selfless neighbor love that Christianity seems to demand. As Krishek argues, this reduction of neighbor love to a Kantian-like abstract universal moral principle runs counter not only to the spirit of Christianity but also to Kierkegaard's own concept of faith, since it reduces the concrete individual to a nameless nobody in particular. Sharon Krishek's book will change your mind about Kierkegaard's Works of Love. * Ronald Hall, Stetson University, and editor-in-chief of the International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion * Sharon Krishek's Lovers in Essence is a thoughtful and invigorating attempt to apply Kierkegaardian themes and insights to our understanding of love, romantic and otherwise. Krishek's careful discussion of self, essence, and potential, and the account of love as a kind of joyful compassionate caring that she draws out of this cluster of ideas, adds something new and very interesting to contemporary philosophical discussions of love. The result breaks fresh ground while remaining true to the spirit of Kierkegaard, and will be of interest to anyone who is working on, or who is curious about, this topic. * Troy Jollimore, California State University, Chico * This book is both clearly written and closely argued. It shows an excellent knowledge of the philosophical and literary texts it engages with – but also a proper respect for, and sensitivity to, the emotional and personal complexity of the human issues at stake. I think it makes a significant contribution both to Kierkegaard studies and to the philosophy of love; and also offers a model of selfhood which should be of interest to philosophers generally. * Anthony Rudd, St. Olaf College *

Sharon Krishek has given us an unusual defense of Kierkegaard's concept of Christian love. It is unusual insofar as it is driven by her substantial criticism of Kierkegaard's tendency in his late writings to devalue and dismiss preferential love as essentially selfish and hence as inferior to the higher universally distributed selfless neighbor love that Christianity seems to demand. As Krishek argues, this reduction of neighbor love to a Kantian-like abstract universal moral principle runs counter not only to the spirit of Christianity but also to Kierkegaard's own concept of faith, since it reduces the concrete individual to a nameless nobody in particular. Sharon Krishek's book will change your mind about Kierkegaard's Works of Love. * Ronald Hall, Stetson University * Sharon Krishek's Lovers in Essence is a thoughtful and invigorating attempt to apply Kierkegaardian themes and insights to our understanding of love, romantic and otherwise. Krishek's careful discussion of self, essence, and potential, and the account of love as a kind of joyful compassionate caring that she draws out of this cluster of ideas, adds something new and very interesting to contemporary philosophical discussions of love. The result breaks fresh ground while remaining true to the spirit of Kierkegaard, and will be of interest to anyone who is working on, or who is curious about, this topic. * Troy Jollimore, California State University, Chico * This book is both clearly written and closely argued. It shows an excellent knowledge of the philosophical and literary texts it engages with - but also a proper respect for, and sensitivity to, the emotional and personal complexity of the human issues at stake. I think it makes a significant contribution both to Kierkegaard studies and to the philosophy of love; and also offers a model of selfhood which should be of interest to philosophers generally. * Anthony Rudd, St. Olaf College *

Author Information

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).

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