Writing philosophy: Kierkegaard and his Forord

Abstract

Kierkegaard launched the book Forord into the world under the pseudonym Nicolaus Notabene. There we can find a rich reflection on the task of writing and doing philosophy. What we intend to do here is, by studying this book, to show the idea of philosophy that the Danish author expresses as well as the temper, or state of mind with which one should write philosophy. Furthermore, we will relate this peculiar book to other reflections on prefaces in Nietzsche and Foucault. In doing so, we will claim a way of writing philosophy that does not do away with philosophy itself, today threatened not only by objective quality indices or by the governments of the day.