Hegel: Kierkegaard’s Reading and Use of Hegel’s Primary Texts

Kierkegaard’s relation to Hegel is one of the great hobbyhorses of nineteenth-century philosophy. The way in which this story has traditionally been told is, however, entirely one-sided. According to the standard view, Kierkegaard rejected every aspect of Hegel’s thought and was one of the most virulent anti-Hegelians in the history of philosophy. This view was articulated most clearly in Niels Thulstrup’s Kierkegaard’s Relation to Hegel. ¹