Three Upbuilding Discourses (1843)
Three Upbuilding Discourses is a book by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard that was published in 1843. In this work, Kierkegaard continues his exploration of the distinction between externalities and inwardness, shifting the focus from the inwardness of faith to that of love.
Structure
The Three Discourses are:- "Love Will Hide a Multitude of Sins"
- "Love Will Hide a Multitude of Sins"
- "Strengthening in the Inner Being"
"Love Will Hide a Multitude of Sins"
Kierkegaard's believes that love never becomes something else because of external circumstances. He discusses “how love hides a multitude of sins”."Love Will Hide a Multitude of Sins"
Kierkegaard says love is no dream or mood or the kind of self-love that only thinks of love in relation to itself. Kierkegaard uses the Socratic method to question himself in relation to love and advises everyone to do the same.Kierkegaard continued his discourse on love in his 1847 book, Works of Love.
"Strengthening in the Inner Being"
Kierkegaard discusses the “main concern of life” in this discourse.He begins with Paul the Apostle in Rome as a prisoner.
Kierkegaard asks three questions:
- Can prosperity serve for strengthening the inner being?
- Can fortune or misfortune serve for strengthening the inner being?
- Can adversity serve for strengthening the inner being?
Criticism
An author 90 years later related the Discourses to Kierkegaard's other works.Since the pseudonymous works are in the form of “indirect communication,” they stand in need of interpretation, and the Discourses, which always were in the form of “direct communication,” afford in some instances a very precious and specific illumination of S.K.’s meaning, not merely a proof of his religious intent in general.