{"product_id":"works-of-love-a-new-translation","title":"Works of Love: A New Translation","description":"A founding figure of existentialism, Søren Kierkegaard is perhaps best known for his writing on anxiety and despair, particularly in such works as \u003cem\u003eFear and Trembling\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Concept of Anxiety\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Sickness unto Death\u003c\/em\u003e. Yet love, too, is a common theme in Kierkegaard's oeuvre, underlying his various collections of edifying discourses, as well as \u003cem\u003eEither\/Or\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eStages on Life's Way\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eChristian Discourses\u003c\/em\u003e, and especially \u003cem\u003eWorks of Love\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e First published in 1847, \u003cem\u003eWorks of Love\u003c\/em\u003e is the most important explicitly religious work Kierkegaard published under his own name. Intended to awaken rather than convince--replicating, in Socratic fashion, the stinging, impatient character of a \"gadfly\"--the book consists of two sets of \"deliberations\" on love, the first set addressing love as a duty, and the second examining the applications of love. Throughout, Kierkegaard contrasts romantic love and love of one's friends with the selfless Christian love, or \u003cem\u003eagape\u003c\/em\u003e, of the New Testament, ultimately contending that the only way to purge self-interest from love is to love one's neighbor as oneself, and oneself as one's neighbor, who is \"indeed unconditionally every person.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Although careful to distinguish his \"deliberations\" from clerical \"sermons,\" Kierkegaard insisted that in order to grasp the full meaning of the texts that constitute \u003cem\u003eWorks of Love\u003c\/em\u003e, one must \u003cem\u003ehear\u003c\/em\u003e them. Kierkegaard makes this point repeatedly in his journals, and indeed, the preface of a work he published a few years after \u003cem\u003eWorks of Love\u003c\/em\u003e begins with the words: \"My dear reader! If possible, read aloud! If you do so, let me thank you for it.\" While previous translations have not given sufficient attention to this critical \u003cem\u003eaural\u003c\/em\u003e aspect of the text, Bruce H. Kirmmse's translation preserves it, thus making the same request of its readers that Kierkegaard once made of his--to \u003cem\u003ehear\u003c\/em\u003e the argument by reading it \u003cem\u003ealoud\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Featuring an illuminating introduction by Kirmmse, this new translation of \u003cem\u003eWorks of Love\u003c\/em\u003e promises to become the standard for generations to come.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bruce H Kirmmse, Søren Kierkegaard","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46724489969900,"sku":"9781324093671","price":35.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9781324093671.jpg?v=1754740247","url":"https:\/\/intl.allstora.com\/products\/works-of-love-a-new-translation","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}