Socrates Meets Kierkegaard

Socrates Meets Kierkegaard: The Father of Philosophy Meets the Father of Christian Existentialism. Peter Kreeft. South Bend, IN: St. Augustine’s Press, 2014.

In his essay on Hegel, Eric Voegelin wrote that “the practice of philosophy in the Socratic-Platonic sense is the equivalent of the Christian sanctification of man; it is the growth of the image of God in man”. It is with this in mind that Peter Kreeft approaches the latest in his “Socrates Meets” series, Socrates Meets Kierkegaard: The Father of Philosophy Meets the Father of Christian Existentialism, which pits Socrates’ reason against Søren Kierkegaard’s faith. This book uses the Socratic method to ‘seduce’ Socrates to abandon his ethical rationalism and take Kierkegaard’s leap of faith – to grow the image of God within himself.

Kreeft has written several “Socrates Meets” books, including Socrates Meets Kant and Socrates Meets Jesus. Each serves as an interesting introduction to, and overview of, the philosophy of the individual who Socrates encounters. An interest in philosophy will allow most to enjoy this series and Socrates Meets Kierkegaard is no different. This book introduces us to the philosophy and theology of Kierkegaard, and while it possesses more sophisticated theological discussions than previous instalments of Kreeft’s series, Kreeft still succeeds in giving the reader a thorough overview of some of the key concepts of Kierkegaard’s thought.

In his introduction, Kreeft draws an important comparison between Socrates and Kierkegaard in order to illustrate the importance of a conversation between these two philosophers: they both combined “intelligence with imagination, truth with beauty, philosophy with poetry, [and] the objective with the subjective” (1). Both are masters of portraying the deepest desires of a human being: truth, goodness and beauty (2). These similarities allow Kreeft to use these philosophers to challenge one another.

Kreeft concentrates on two chapters of one short book in Kierkegaard’s vast corpus, Philosophical Fragments, believing this to be the selection of Kierkegaard’s work that Kierkegaard would want all other philosophers to read. Furthermore, Kreeft asserts that the reader need only be familiar with two Kierkegaardian concepts to understand the issues explored in this book: “subjectivity” or self-hood, and Kierkegaard’s classification of human existence under three possible “stages on life’s way”. These stages are 1) the ‘aesthetic’, 2) the ‘ethical’, and 3) the ‘religious’, which Kreeft sees as “halfway between the philosophical-ethical-rational-secular and the religious” (4).

In Philosophical Fragments Kierkegaard explores two versions of attaining truth: the Socratic and the religious. At issue in Philosophical Fragments is the transition from philosophy to religion, a position that translates to Kreeft’s book well. In the opening chapters of Socrates Meets Kierkegaard, Kierkegaard performs an imaginative thought experiment to show how this transition can be done. To bring the central problem of his philosophy into terms that Socrates can relate to, Kierkegaard conceives Christianity as philosophy and mythology, despite Kierkegaard’s (and Kreeft’s) belief that Christianity is neither. Nevertheless, philosophy and mythology are used as covers for Kierkegaard’s mission, allowing Kierkegaard to explain his concepts to Socrates – and the reader – in relatable terms.

Fittingly, as the purpose of this inquiry and discussion is to weigh the consistency of Christianity, this dialogue between Socrates and Kierkegaard takes place at the entrance to Heaven (10). The conversation begins with both asserting that their greatest pleasure is to pursue truth. Kierkegaard then poses the question of “how far does the Truth admit of being learned?” (17), a question that confuses Socrates. This search for the truth culminates in the exploration of whether the two types of truth – the eternal and the temporal – need to be separate.

Kierkegaard suggests no. The following chapters of the dialogue proceed to explain both Socrates’ and Kierkegaard’s respective philosophical positions. First, Kierkegaard explains why Socrates’ habit of using reason to seek truth, virtue, and ethics – “Plan A” – is consistent. Then, first in philosophical terms, then in religious terms, and finally in psychological terms, Kierkegaard asserts that his “Plan B” is also consistent. Truth, virtue, and ethics can be sought through the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious, what Kierkegaard calls “the three stages of life.” This consistent plan can be called “Christianity”.

After explaining his way of seeking truth, Kierkegaard seeks to rationalize this approach for Socrates. He admits that Socrates will find his rationale “a very strange kind of reason” (88). It is here that Kierkegaard explains his “leap of faith”, arguing that there can exist something in the world that everyone knows exists, but that they also know they did not invent (93). Kierkegaard asserts that man cannot prove or disprove his own existence, and likewise, he cannot prove or disprove Christianity, but rather must freely choose to become a Christian. Kierkegaard explains that every individual is offered the chance for a “New Birth”, which is the moment when the learner changes from being to non-being (106). This is called Conversion and it is God’s way of making himself understood. It is in these chapters that you see Socrates’ reason and Kierkegaard’s faith most clearly at odds. Kierkegaard admits that reason “collides” with knowledge of God. But, if the learner yields her reason and accepts knowledge of God, the understanding consummates in happiness or agape (109-110).

The conclusion of Kreeft’s work sees Socrates assert that while he has not been converted, the comfortable have been afflicted. Socrates states that Kierkegaard has made it impossible for him to be comfortable in his middle sphere, the ethical-rational, as there exists a gap behind Socrates as well as in front of him (152-153). It is here that Socrates seems to lessen his grip on his reason and yield to the apparent paradox of Christianity that is before him. While not entirely forsaking his need for reason, we leave Socrates at the pivotal moment before taking Kierkegaard’s “leap of faith”, at the moment he is led “out of the cave, the cave of [his] own reason, and into a higher light” (152).

On the whole, Kreeft’s work stands as an effective introduction to Kierkegaard’s philosophy and is a thought-provoking analysis of ethical rationalism versus faith. The conversation that takes place is a deep one. It is philosophical and religious, told both bluntly and through incredibly drawn out rhetoric and fairy-tale that are, at times, rather confusing, both for Socrates and the reader. Due to the brevity of the book, Kreeft does not engage with all elements of a journey towards faith in Kierkegaard’s God, but rather leaves Socrates (and the reader) sitting uncomfortably in a “middle sphere” (152), knowing that Socrates needs to stake “everything in a higher hope … or [sink] back into a deeper despair” (152-153). However, such omissions may be necessary to keep this conversation slim and readable. The book also echoes Kierkegaard’s personal journey in a way, as it remains unclear in Kierkegaard’s work whether he ever truly believed he finished his journey to God – a point that Kreeft alludes to on the first page of this volume. This book opens the conversation and points towards further inquiries for Socrates and for us.

The Socrates Meets series stays true to Plato and his Socrates, embracing the Socratic method to question the philosophers he encounters, pointing out and eliminating inconsistencies or unproven assumptions. In this contribution, Kierkegaard and Socrates both embrace this method, though at times it is difficult to tell who is questioning whom. This seems to be intentional on Kreeft’s part: the dialogue allows us to interact with the thought of both philosophers. However, at times the conversation seems forced, with Kreeft having his characters to react in ways that seem counter-intuitive.

Consequently, perhaps a troublesome element of the book is the philosophical consistency demonstrated in Kreeft’s conclusion. While the conclusion appears to follow naturally from the rest of the dialogue, Socrates’ concluding remarks are unsettling. Socrates’ abandonment of his principles seems sudden and unjustified. We should question whether Socrates would abandon his reason so quickly, and whether Kierkegaard’s “seductive logic” could sway Socrates from his philosophy, particularly given that Kierkegaard’s own speech employs so many devices Socrates found frustrating and given that Kierkegaard’s theology differs so fundamentally from Socrates, in that it forsakes reason for an unprovable leap.

Kreeft obviously has a stake in ‘seducing’ the reader (through Socrates) to accept Kierkegaard’s (and Kreeft’s) own theology, which leads him to treat some of his characters a bit unfairly. However, these are perhaps unimportant problems to the reader who wishes for a quick overview of Kierkegaard’s theology. To this end, Kreeft has crafted an excellent discussion, which succeeds in providing a satisfying overview of some of Kierkegaard’s main concepts and contributions to philosophy. For the reader with even a basic interest in philosophy or theology, Kreeft’s Socrates Meets Kierkegaard is an excellent introduction to how Kierkegaard sees the growth of the image of God in man.

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