ABSTRACT
Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Solger is known to most Kierkegaard researchers today as one of the prominent German Romantic scholars interested in the phenomenon of irony. He is mentioned along with figures such as Friedrich von Schlegel in the second part of The Concept of Irony, which explores the different forms of modern irony. Solger is thus often regarded as a background figure to the development of �ierkegaard’s own theory of this phenomenon. What is less well known is the fact that his relation to Solger is closely connected to his relation to Hegel; indeed, Kierkegaard’s view of Solger is largely mediated by Hegel’s assessment. In this article, an attempt will be made to sketch Kierkegaard’s view of Solger with an eye towards its dependence on Hegel’s treatment. The goal is to determine if Kierkegaard ever managed to arrive at an independent view of Solger that was significantly different from Hegel’s.
