Without Authority: Without Authority(18 Kierkegaard's Writings)

"Without authority," a phrase Kierkegaard repeatedly applied to himself and his writings, is an appropriate common title for this volume of five short works that in various ways deal with the concept and practice of authority. The Lily in the Field and the Bird of the Air presupposes the teaching authority of the lily and the bird, derived from the authoritative Gospel injunction to learn from them. Two Ethical-Religious Essays deal with the limits of authorization for a witness to the truth and with the contrast between the authority of the genius and that of the apostle. The remaining work--Three Discourses at the Communion on Fridays, An Upbuilding Discourse, and Two Discourses at the Communion on Fridays--presuppose Gospel authority in meditations on forgiveness and the power of love. After deciding to end his career as an author with the publication of Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Kierkegaard nevertheless became absorbed in a fruitful second authorship after the Corsair affair.The present five works, together with Practice in Christianity, On My Work as an Author, The Sickness unto Death, and For Self-Examination, published during the same period (1849-51), represent the close of the second writing career. The preface to Two Discourses opens with a comprehensive paragraph that concludes the second period of writing, embraces the first, and defines the whole.

Table of Contents:
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION The Lily in the Field and the Bird of the Air: Three Devotional Discourses PREFACE I. "Look at the Birds of the Air; Look at the Lily in the Field." II. "No One Can Serve Two Masters, for He Must Either Hate the One and Love the Other or Be Devoted to the One and Despise the Other." III. "Look at the Birds of the Air; They Sow Not and Reap Not and Gather Not into Barns"--without Worries about Tomorrow. "Look at the Grass in the Field, Which Today Is." Two Ethical-Religious Essays H. H. PREFACE Does a Human Being Have the Right to Let Himself Be Put to Death for the Truth? The Difference between a Genius and an Apostle Three Discourses at the Communion on Fridays PREFACE [The High Priest] [The Tax Collector] [The Woman Who Was a Sinner] An Upbuilding Discourse PREFACE The Woman Who Was a Sinner Two Discourses at the Communion on Fridays PREFACE [But One Who Is Forgiven Little Loves Little] [Love Will Hide a Multitude of Sins] SUPPLEMENT Key to References Original Title Page of The Lily in the Field and the Bird of the Air Selected Entries from Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers Pertaining to The Lily in the Field and the Bird of the Air Original Title Page of Two Ethical-Religious Essays Selected Entries from Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers Pertaining to Two Ethical-Religious Essays Original Title Page of Three Discourses at the Communion on Fridays Selected Entries from Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers Pertaining to Three Discourses at the Communion on Fridays Original Title Page of An Upbuilding Discourse Selected Entries from Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers Pertaining to An Upbuilding Discourse Original Title Page of Two Discourses at the Communion on Fridays Selected Entries from Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers Pertaining to Two Discourses at the Communion on Fridays EDITORIAL APPENDIX Acknowledgments Collation of the Five Publications in the Danish Editions of Kierkegaard's Collected Works Notes Bibliographical Note Index

About the Author :
Howard V. Hong, the former Director of the Howard and Edna Hong Kierkegaard Library at St. Olaf College, is the General Editor of Kierkegaard's Writings. Edna H. Hong is a poet, writer, and translator who has collaborated with Professor Hong on other English translations of Kierkegaard's works.

Review :
These new translations are excellent. Choice The definitive edition of the Writings. The first volume ... indicates the scholarly value of the entire series: an introduction setting the work in the context of Kierkegaard's development; a remarkably clear translation; and concluding sections of intelligent notes. Library Journal