Agency and Contemplation: Neptic Themes in Kierkegaard

The critical perspective on ‘mystics’ contained in Either/Or is assessed in the wider context of Kierkegaard’s work. With reference both to the Orthodox tradition of the Philokalia and certain of Kierkegaard’s so-called “upbuilding discourses,” a core conception is identified: contemplation as watchfulness. On this basis, a Kierkegaardian defence of contemplative life is developed in response to two major dimensions of the critique in Either/Or, viz. “the agency question” and “the worry about evasion.” On this defence, contemplative life need not involve a withdrawal from active life as such but instead from inattentive forms of active life: not least, with respect to the demand properly to attend to those we take ourselves to love.