ABSTRACT
The Danish noun Mediation comes from Medieval Latin mediatio. It does not appear in the Ordbog over det danske Sprog,1 but it is in Ludvig Meyer’s Fremmedordbog, where it is listed as a synonym for the words Mellemkomst, Mægling, Forliig, Forbøn.2 These terms mean primarily mediation in the sense of mediating between parties in order to bring about an agreement or reconciliation. The Danish word for sublation is Ophævelse, which comes from the verb ophæve.3 This did not really exist as a noun before Kierkegaard’s time, but it was rather an attempt to imitate in Danish the German word Aufhebung, or in verbal form aufheben. Kierkegaard mentions this linguistic oddity in the Concluding Unscientific Postscript.4 As he notes with a play on words, Ophævelse usually means a swelling or something that is raised up. The philosophical use of the term came from German philosophy and was introduced into Danish by Johan Ludvig Heiberg.5
