As Kierkegaard’s narrator explains, the story presents a difficulty that is not often considered-namely, that after the ordeal is over and Isaac has been spared at the last moment, Abraham is capable of receiving him again and living normally, even joyfully, for the rest of his days. Disgusted at the self-certainty of his own age, Kierkegaard investigates the paradox underlying Abraham’s decision to allow his duty to God to take precedence over his duties to his family. Retelling the biblical story of the binding of Isaac, Fear and Trembling expounds on the ordeal of Abraham, who was commanded by God to sacrifice his own son in an exceptional test of faith. Kirmmse eloquently brings this classic work to a new generation of readers. Now, in our era of immense uncertainty, renowned Kierkegaard scholar Bruce H. Auden, Walter Benjamin, and existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. This newly translated Fear and Trembling, a foundational document of modern philosophy and existentialism, could not be more apt for our perilous times.įirst published in 1843 under the pseudonym Johannes de silentio (“John of Silence”), Soren Kierkegaard’s richly resonant Fear and Trembling has for generations stood as a pivotal text in the history of moral philosophy, inspiring such artistic and philosophical luminaries as Edvard Munch, W.

Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard