Hope and Faith – Kierkegaard’s Call for the Self’s Relationship to Itself

The chapter starts by outlining Kierkegaard’s model of the self in order to delineate two forms of hope - a form of mundane and wordly hope which Kierkegaard assesses critically. Kierkegaard’s criticism of hope can be read as a form of critique of culture as he scorns hope which simply denotes a wish for a change of fortune or for some future worldly result. The critique of hope as a phenomenon in the sphere of temporality and mundane live is contrasted by Kierkegaard’s description of hope permeated by faith. By way of genuine hope Kierkegaard argues the self gains an openness to life and a meaningful way of existence. By means of the right way of hoping we may be able to relate to our selves.