Fear and Trembling
Johannes de Silentio revisits Abraham’s binding of Isaac to ask about faith, ethical duty and the limits of explanation. The narrative stages a problem rather than authorizing ordinary readers to suspend moral obligations.
Understanding the text
Kierkegaard wrote in nineteenth-century Copenhagen amid debates about philosophy, Lutheran Christianity and modern public life. His pseudonymous authors are constructed perspectives, not simple masks whose every statement expresses his settled view. Signed discourses, posthumous manuscripts and editions must be distinguished from the published pseudonymous books.
Key points
- 01
Abraham
The story makes obedience, love for Isaac and ethical responsibility difficult to reconcile.
- 02
Paradox
The “teleological suspension of the ethical” names a disputed problem inside the pseudonym’s account.
- 03
Silence
Abraham’s inability to communicate his situation tests whether a claimed exception can be justified to others.
How to read it
Read the biblical narrative and the pseudonym’s variations together without turning the text into a general permission to harm.
Editions & sources
Summaries and key points are original editorial interpretations. They accompany reading the work and do not replace an edition of the text. Editorial method ↗