RE: Fear and Trembling - Left handedness
Dawn (doogum@sfsu.edu)
Sun, 28 Nov 1999 20:30:58 -0800
> "I do not trouble God with my petty sorrows, the particular does not
> trouble me, I gaze only at my love, and I keep its virginal flame pure and
> clear. Faith is convinced the God is concerned about the least things. I
> am content in this life with being married to the left hand,
> faith is humble
> enough to demand the right hand - for that this is humility I do not deny
> and shall never deny." - Soren Kierkegaard from Problemata:
> Preliminary Expectoration in Fear and Trembling.
>.........
>Anyone else read Kierkegaard?
I do.
I'll risk an interpretation.
I haven't finished reading all of his books yet, but
I think that here SK is using the left hand to symbolize ethical commitments
in the realm of social conventions, rules & definitions. (a wedding ring is
worn on the left hand). This is where we are bound in relationships defined
by reasons and reasonability where the ethical choice takes the form of an
informed decision. This is not Faith (with a capital "F" ;).
God for SK is the completely Unknown and unknowable, "It is the limit to
which reason repeatedly comes ... it is the different, the absolutely
different." (Philosophical Fragments, P.55)
So the right hand which is demanded in the case of Faith is the commitment
to taking the leap. It is faith without recourse to reason, with no
presupposition of ultimate justice or redemption or whatever.
I'm currently writing about SK's conception of time where I argue that this
means every moment of our existence involves the commitment to leaping all
over again. For SK ethical codes of behavior don't mean anything permanent
(i.e. eternal) at all. In every moment we destroy and create them anew.
As for how this relates to the Salinger quote, I'll defer to you. I think I
need to re-read all things Salinger yet again ... it's been too long. it's
time.
By the way, and I'm not sure how it fits in, I'm a lefty too.
-dawn.