On Concrete Philosophy: Between Kierkegaard and Marcuse

SKC Workshop Autumn 2026 with Davide Santiago Sgarbi, University of Bologna.

In 1929 the young Herbert Marcuse, then developing a philosophical project aimed at bringing Marxism into dialogue with Heideggerian philosophy, published an essay entitled On Concrete Philosophy.

The aim of Marcuse’s essay is to outline a philosophical method capable of taking root in the contemporary existence of individuals and of prompting them to actualize philosophical truth within it. To exemplify a philosophy grounded in such a concrete methodology, Marcuse turns to Søren Kierkegaard.

For Marcuse, Kierkegaard is the philosopher who, more than any other, succeeded in developing a concrete form of philosophy, rooted in the existence of the individual and concerned with communicating truth in such a way that it could be existentially appropriated.

By investigating and further developing the concrete elements of Kierkegaard’s philosophy, while also moving beyond the interpretative limitations of Marcuse’s essay, which were conditioned by the interpretation of Kierkegaard prevalent at the time, it becomes possible to examine in what sense and with what significance Kierkegaard’s method may be understood as concrete and may serve as a model for philosophical inquiry.

Three elements make it possible to identify a concrete methodology in Kierkegaard’s philosophy: his critique of speculative knowledge, the centrality of appropriation in the individual’s relation to truth, and the communicative strategies through which he prevents his thought from being reduced to abstract concepts.

This complex structure makes it possible to extend Kierkegaard’s methodology beyond its original context, establishing a productive connection with Marcuse.

About the series

This workshop is part of the Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre's Autumn Workshops 2026: