ABSTRACT
Jürgen Habermas (b. 1929) is often regarded as Germany’s most influential living philosopher, and his work has been extremely influential in academic as well as social and political arenas. Although Habermas was familiar with Kierkegaard as a graduate student, his rediscovery of him on the occasion of a lecture delivered in Copenhagen in 1987 prepared the way for Habermas to rearticulate his central views on political liberalism and communicative action while developing new views on the nature of the self and the role of religion in philosophy and politics. I examine these themes in this article which is divided into three sections: (1) a brief overview of Habermas’ life with particular attention to those events and works that are most significant for understanding his relation to Kierkegaard; (2) an account of Habermas’ use of Kierkegaardian themes and texts; and (3) a treatment of how his use shapes Habermas’ philosophy of religion as well as his overall philosophical project.
