Abstract

Kierkegaard’s efforts to develop a uniquely existential approach to philosophy were furthered by his experimental use of the literary device of pseudonymous authorship. The existential import of his pseudonyms is twofold: they not only diagnose the spiritual malaise that afflicts their readers, but also manifest this distress, unwittingly, in their various efforts to address the crisis at hand. In the case of Fear and Trembling, we are invited to witness the pseudonymous author and narrator, Johannes de Silentio, in his despair, as he fails to escape the crisis he presumes to address.