The Concept of Anxiety: A Simple Psychologically Oriented Deliberation in View of the Dogmatic Problem of Hereditary Sin

Søren Kierkegaard begins by reflecting that “one who intends to write a book ought to consider carefully the subject about which he wishes to write” (7). As part of this consideration, authors should and must consult with other authorities. However, authors still often act as if they had composed their books entirely alone. Kierkegaard compares this to authors claiming they wrote “as spontaneously as a bird sings its song” (7). Authors also often address only their own era and the problems of their own generation, instead of the entire past.

As the author of The Concept of Anxiety, Kierkegaard compares himself to “a king without a country” and “an author without any claims.” By this, Kierkegaard is suggesting ironically that he just “speculates” (8) throughout The Concept of Anxiety, but at the same time he is presenting himself as an authority on the subject. Kierkegaard concludes by saying farewell to everyone who agrees and disagrees with him, as well as those who actually read the book and those who did not.

Kierkegaard describes the view that science and logic can and must be used to understand the real, what Kierkegaard terms the “actuality.” He rejects this view, arguing that logic cannot completely describe