posted
As I was rereading Speaker for the Dead (great job by the way, but I am sure you already know that) I realized how much is mad of Andrew's Fear and Trembling when he acts, taking Human to the third life.
Was this just to show his emotion, or do you think that you were influenced, directly or indirectly by Kierkegaard?
This is probably a stupid question.
Posts: 1332 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Fear and Trembling was a phrase of scripture before it was the title of a book by Kierkegaard, is all I can imagine.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Nothing intentional - fear and trembling as a phrase is very old; K got it from the Bible - and fear and trembling as an emotional state is at least as old as seeing the sabertooth ready to spring ...
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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posted
I don't know if Kierkegaard was cause or effect, but 'frykt og beven', fear and trembling, is a fairly common expression in Norwegian (and presumably Danish) in somewhat the same way that 'wailing and gnashing of teeth' or 'and there was much rejoicing' are in English. Not that any of these expressions are completely unknown in any of the languages, but some of them are more common; in English, fear and trembling ranks well below the other two.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Thanks, OSC. That is what I guessed anyway, but there was a connection I saw. I guess that means old Søren was right about the state of Fear and Trembling.
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posted
Does it relate at all to when Si Wang Mu is wondering how we can ever really know if we are doing the right thing, since people who do the wrong thing usually also think they are right?
I couldn't really make heads or tails of Kierkegaard, I don't think. His point seemed to be that only paradoxes are worth talking about. Everything else is self-evident.
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posted
Probably you forgot that comrade Kierkegaard was Danish, and therefore anything he says will only make sense after you've had a beer. Or three. And it helps if you half-swallow a potato.
posted
Hey, none of your Scandanavian bigotry here! I have a dream that little blond kids everywhere can dance in peace Posts: 1332 | Registered: Apr 2005
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