Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nmvwc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-06T02:13:27.547Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - The “Socratic secret”: the postscript to the Philosophical Crumbs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2010

Rick Anthony Furtak
Affiliation:
Colorado College
Get access

Summary

About two years after the publication of Philosophical Crumbs, also known as the Fragments, a second book authored by Johannes Climacus appeared. The title of the new book reflected both its great length and his delight in being provocative – Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Crumbs. A Mimic–Pathetic–Dialectic Compilation. An Existential Contribution. What does it mean that the Postscript, published in 1846, is explicitly presented (in its title) as a “postscript” (Efterskrift) to the Philosophical Crumbs of 1844? What is a postscript and what does it do? As a hypothesis to be tested, consider that when I add a postscript to a letter I have just written, it means that I think I left out something important – something I remember after I have finished signing (or even sending) the letter that I think still needs to be conveyed. The postscript is an after-thought, in a sense, but it still serves to append something that I think cannot be left unsaid. It may serve to emphasize something that was implicit in the letter, like “PS, I love you.” Or it may provide some critical information that was not implicit in the letter – e.g., “PS, did you know that the party has been changed to Tuesday?” This latter PS imparts crucial information that I did not mention in my letter. The PS might also serve to qualify in a crucial way something that I did say in the letter – e.g. “PS, don't take what I said above as a criticism of your brother.”

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×