ABSTRACT
Originally, Shosyu Kawakami, The Reception of Kierkegaard's Thought in Germany: Critical Philosophy and Existential Philosophy in the Early Twentieth Century was the author's dissertation, which was later revised to become the work now under discussion. Aiding Kawakami's investigation of Kierkegaard's reception are the works of Helmut Fahrenbach1 and Michael Theunissen, which assume significance among other such investigations of Kierkegaard's thought in German philosophy in the early twentieth century. In previous research, it has generally been considered that existential philosophy accepted Kierkegaard's thought wholly and critical philosophy partially, and explained each philosopher's reception also within this contradistinctive framework. Marcuse and Bloch sympathize with the existential pathos of Kierkegaard and introduce the truth of subjectivity into their philosophy directly. Thus, this book succeeds in overcoming the problems concerning past understandings that were limited by the scarcity of relevant materials as well as by ideological views, and therefore provides a more realistic explanation of the reception of Kierkegaard's thought.
