Abstract

This chapter aims to make sense of Kierkegaard view of faith and reason. It is argued that faith is to a considerable extent above reason, not against it. Still, faith can engage reason to some extent. Despite appearances, Kierkegaard cannot reject the Augustinian idea of faith seeking understanding. Still, he does reject accounts of faith that are overly intellectualistic by viewing faith as a form of insight. Arguably, it is against this background that Kierkegaard’s approach should be understood, since it represents a corrective against intellectualistic accounts of faith, as well as Christendom, that downplays the categories of the absurd and offense, which are both closely related to human sin that rejects divine alterity. However, it is not perfectly clear how faith is justified on Kierkegaard’s account. Specifically, is faith justified pragmatically by practical reasons or does it instead rely on a fideist self-constitution where any justification is internal to it?