Courses at Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre
Fixed courses
A study of the works of Copenhagen’s most radical author, Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). Kierkegaard’s entire authorship is centered around the existential project that confronts every human being: to become oneself and none other than oneself. This course examines his witty, humorous, but also deeply earnest, exploration of self-identity. We remain especially attentive to the ways in which Kierkegaard’s thought is critical of inherited ethnic and cultural definitions of self, and study how his approach is uniquely modern.
This course constructs a philosophical framework for the interdisciplinary examination of gender. Against a historical outline of the development of contemporary gender studies, we examine biological, sociological, and psychological perspectives on gender. These theoretical perspectives are put into discussion with ethical issues concerning sexuality, selfhood, personal identity, and autonomy.
This course uncovers a European history about love that has shaped the present in untold ways. Our love stories reveal that we conceive of the human condition as desiring, striving, and longing, but also as avoiding reality and the concrete commitments that tie us to finitude. We read responses to this escapism in the form of a moral call to respond to the other, also when this means respecting difference and the other’s independence. Throughout, we gain tools for thinking seriously about love today.
This course examines the question of the good life as it surfaces in key texts from Continental philosophy, with particular focus on human freedom and the search for meaning, fulfilment, and happiness. We inquire into our relationships, activities, and commitments; we wonder about the importance of personal responsibility and active engagement; and we ask whether freedom is key to the good life, and, if so, the freedom to do what? We may not discover the secret to happiness in this course, but we do partake in an age-old pilgrimage in search of the good life.
Focusing on thinkers from Continental Europe like Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Martin Heidegger, Hannah Arendt, and Copenhagen’s own Søren Kierkegaard, this course traces the development of the conception of ‘selfhood’ in the 19th and 20th centuries. We study how ethical thinking has moved from the language of duty to that of personal answerability, and how the search for meaningful personal existence has increasingly become the responsibility of the individual.
We will follow the evolution of religious thinking in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, much of which argues that religion should avoid the distorting demand of justifying itself solely in terms of rationality and that it ought to consider the volitional and experiential aspects of religious life, as well. Our goal is to gain a critical appreciation of the development of religious thought, with a particular focus on the significance of religious experience, based on a study of a handful of highly influential texts by authors such as Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Friedrich Nietzsche, William James, as well as Copenhagen’s most famous philosophical mind, Søren Kierkegaard.
The past two decades have seen an explosive surge in neuroscientific explanations of human nature, promising clearcut biological answers to hackneyed philosophical questions concerning rationality, emotion, behaviour, value, and ethics. This course sets out to examine to what extent such a promise is warranted – in particular concerning existential questions such as anxiety, responsibility, and religious faith.
Mental illness is an increasing problem involving dramatic personal and socioeconomic costs. Developments in genetics, evolutionary biology, and neuroscience over the last two decades have made it obvious for psychiatrists and psychologists alike that the question ‘what is mental illness?’ is still an open question that requires interdisciplinary resources. In this course, we attempt to develop a solid conceptual framework for the interdisciplinary exploration of mental illness. This course is an introduction to the burgeoning field of philosop
Søren Kierkegaard: The Individual in the Global Society (SUMMERCOURSE)
The course takes a Danish perspective on common existential themes by reading the world famous local philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, in his hometown and at his own university. The main topic of the course is Søren Kierkegaard's witty and deeply earnest exploration of the problem of self-identity. Beginning with the breakdown of culture-specific ethnic and religious categories that have traditionally defined the self, the course treats Kierkegaard's scathing critique of religious culture and politics, his view that religious demands can conflict with seemingly universal ethical duties, and his assertion that the look of the Other is a defining factor in self-identity.
The course takes a Danish perspective on common existential themes by reading the world famous local philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, in his hometown and at his own university. The main topic of the course is Søren Kierkegaard's witty and deeply earnest exploration of the problem of self-identity. Beginning with the breakdown of culture-specific ethnic and religious categories that have traditionally defined the self, the course treats Kierkegaard's scathing critique of religious culture and politics, his view that religious demands can conflict with seemingly universal ethical duties, and his assertion that the look of the Other is a defining factor in self-identity.
Fixed courses will be offered at every semester or as summercourses. Locate them through the University of Copenhagen's course-catalogue.
Kierkegaard as a part of the BA and MA program:
Since the late 1980s, the study of Kierkegaard has been a permanent part of the ‘Ethics and Philosophy of Religion’ program (currently only offered in Danish) at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Copenhagen. All BA students must read Kierkegaard’s Philosophical Fragments, and numerous MA theses and papers for elective courses have been written on Kierkegaard. The study of Kierkegaard has also been a central part of a great number of comprehensive examinations. This professional interest in Kierkegaard has continued with many PhD dissertations.
All UCPH Courses
The University of Copenhagen offers a wide range of courses taught in English at either bachelor's (BA) or master's (MA) level each semester. Read more in the Online Course Catalogue.