Liberal education as a way of life: Soren Kierkegaard's pedagogy for edification

My purpose in this dissertation is to explore a tradition of liberal education that culminates in what Pierre Hadot describes as "a way of life" or practical wisdom, noting how Soren Kierkegaard makes an invaluable contribution to this tradition. From Socrates to Bernard of Clairvaux to Kierkegaard I trace an understanding of liberal education viewed not as theoretical discourse or the acquiring of tools for critical thinking but as an existential task of living into the truth or ideal one aspires to. Accordingly, this tradition offers spiritual exercises intended to be practiced at each instant---the goal of which is to transform an individual's way of being. It will be shown that Kierkegaard is an extraordinary exemplar within this tradition. More than critical thinking or the development of a sophisticated technical vocabulary (both of which Kierkegaard does to an extraordinary degree), Kierkegaard's authorship cultivates a way of life or journey into full existence.