Le phénomène de la souffrance comme élément constitutif de la théophilosophie affirmative de Kierkegaard

Abstract

This paper analyzes the problem of suffering in Kierkegaard’s thought on the basis of two main parts of his work: pseudonymous writings and upbuilding discourses. The main assumption is that Kierkegaard presents the problem of suffering differently in these two parts: in the pseudonymous writings from the viewpoint of the negative dialectic of paradox, and in the upbuilding discourses in terms of the positive dialectic of upbuilding. Therefore, the problem of suffering is examined separately in both these parts: in the pseudonymous writings as the phenomenology of suffering and in the upbuilding discourses as the hermeneutics of suffering. The most important conclusion is that the experience of suffering in Christianity has a completely positive dimension, because it is radically opposed to the experience of evil. The Christian suffering is in this approach, according to the pattern of Jesus Christ, an effect of the spiritual development of a human being in God and a place of God’s revelation in human existence. This understanding of Christian suffering leads to the discovery of a perspective of affirmative theophilosophy as an original interpretation of the Christian ideal presented by Kierkegaard.