Rescuing the individual: The Kierkegaard renaissance in Weimar Germany

This dissertation examines the phenomenon of Kierkegaard's reception in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Kierkegaard's importance in the intellectual and cultural ferment of the Weimar Republic is oft-mentioned but has yet to receive systematic treatment. No single figure dominated Weimar's intellectual horizon more than Kierkegaard. Not only does he provide the connective tissue between figures like Heidegger, Rosenzweig, Karl Barth and Emmanuel Levinas. He also influenced the thinking of communist theorists, proto-Fascists, Catholic theologians, mystical novelists, and legal scholars. In a culture typically known for its fractures, Kierkegaard's reception points to many of the shared fears and desires of the Weimar Republic.;My dissertation looks at the individuals, mechanisms (books, articles, lectures), and organizations that mediated Kierkegaard's reception. In doing so it emphasizes the capaciousness of the Weimar Republic more than its fatedness. Within the circle of Kierkegaard interpreters discussed in the following chapters, there existed a dizzying array of possible paths for Germany's renewal: from Bolshevism to Fascism, and Lao-Tzu to Nietzsche. But each of these paths required a clearing out, a destruction of the existing societal structures. I find that this was Kierkegaard's primary attraction in 20th century Germany: he lent a potent voice to their societal frustrations, especially in the aftermath of World War I.;I also argue that Kierkegaard's popularity complicates the declension narrative of individuality in the late Weimar Republic. With his plangent insistence on the importance of the individual over and above any religious, social or political system, Kierkegaard stands as one of the fathers of Existentialism. Yet his philosophy took root among a host of Weimar-era social movements, from the youth movement to socialism and fascism, which radically subordinated the individual in their respective schemas. This dissertation shows how communists and fascists used Kierkegaard as an appeal to individuality and as a way of shaping their respective images of authentic individuals.;In sum, Kierkegaard's reception serves as a thread running throughout the otherwise balkanized Weimar Republic. By following this thread, my dissertation uncovers a shared intellectual space between segments of German society otherwise viewed as radically dissonant.