Hatrack River Forum: Kierkegaard, OSC?

This is topic Kierkegaard, OSC? in forum Discussions About Orson Scott Card at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :

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.

Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :

I most be the only one who has ever thought that. [Frown]

Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :

Fear and Trembling was a phrase of scripture before it was the title of a book by Kierkegaard, is all I can imagine.

Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :

I don't understand the question.

Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :

pooka: No doubt Kierkegaard was keenly aware of that too [Smile]

Being the religious existentialist gadfly of Denmark...

-Bok

Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :

I read Kierkegaard, but I didn't inhale.

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 ...

Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :

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.

Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :

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.

Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :

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.

Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :

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.

[Big Grin]

Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :

Hey, none of your Scandanavian bigotry here! [No No]

I have a dream that little blond kids everywhere can dance in peace [The Wave]

Posted by Soara (Member # 6729) on :

quote:
or 'and there was much rejoicing' are in English. [/QB]

No, that's just Monty Python.