Stadier på Sociologiens Vej: Søren Kierkegaard og Samfundsvidenskaberne

This article surveys Kierkegaard’s influence on sociology in the 20th century. Drawing on the Hungarian sociologist Arpad Szakolczai’s methodological concept of ’background figures, it is argued that Kierkegaard has often exercised a ’hidden’ but decisive influence on a series of thinkers in classical sociology, including Simmel, Mannheim, Weber, Adorno and the Frankfurt school. It is further argued that Foucault’s late authorship developed in an intimate dialogue with Kierkegaard’s writings. For these reasons, Kierkegaard must also be recognized as a key figure for critical theory. The overall aim of the article is to ascertain Kierkegaard’s relevance for sociological theory formation as well as diagnostic understandings of contemporary society.