Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2006
Keywords
Lessing's ditch, Kierkegaard, Lessing, religious epistemology, faith
Abstract
This essay expands upon the suggestion that Lessing's infamous ‘ditch’ is actually three ditches: temporal, metaphysical, and existential gaps. It examines the complex problems these ditches raise, and then proposes that Kierkegaard's Fragments and Postscript exhibit a similar triadic organizational structure, which may signal a deliberate attempt to engage and respond to Lessing's three gaps. Viewing the Climacean project in this way offers an enhanced understanding of the intricacies of Lessing's rationalist approach to both religion and historical truth, and illuminates Climacus's subjective response to Lessing.
Recommended Citation
Matthew A. Benton, "The Modal Gap: The Objective Problem of Lessing's Ditch(es) and Kierkegaard's Subjective Reply," Religious Studies 42 (2006): 27-44.
Included in
Continental Philosophy Commons, Epistemology Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons
Comments
This article has been published in a revised form in Religious Studies [http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0034412505008103]. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © Cambridge University Press.