Kierkegaard's notion of the aesthetic covers at least two interrelated aspects. On the one hand, it defines a way of existence characterized by either the immediate embodiment or the reflective contemplation of life's possibilities. On the other hand, it indicates the investigation of those possibilities of life within the medium of certain works of art and narratives. Both aspects entail a critical approach to existence on the basis of ethical and religious presuppositions.

Kierkegaard's view of science and his rejection of the scientific systems of German idealism can be understood on the basis of his own emphasis on the necessity of a practical—rather than theoretical—comprehension of existence. Following the model of Socratic irony, he suggests that such comprehension rests on a skeptical attitude toward objective knowledge. As soon as skepticism opens up the possibility of an ethical approach to existence, however, the question is raised as to whether ethics itself, conceived of as a (...) form of knowledge, is able to give an account of existence in accordance with the presuppositions of the Christian dogma. Among those presuppositions, the notions of “sin” and “reconciliation” constitute a challenge to both pre‐Christian ethics and the epistemological framework within which this ethics situates itself. The transformation of such a framework would imply the founding of a “new science” able to embrace the idea of transcendence. (shrink)