The Divided Soul: A Kierkegaardian Exploration

SOren Kierkegaards Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing is an astute analysis of inner dividedness. In this striking little book Kierkegaard gently yet incisively specifies the precise forms it takes. Like many of SOren Kierkegaards books however Purity of Heart contains a good deal of formidable prose. The aim of The Divided Soul: A Kierkegaardian Exploration is to make Kierkegaards scrutiny of our inner terrain in Purity of Heart accessible and inviting. With clear direct prose Clifford Williams lays bare Kierkegaards discerning descriptions of the tension between a desire for goodness and resistance to goodness. Williams then reflects on themes arising from Kierkegaards conception of faith. In this beautifully written little book full of apt illustrations Cliff Williams has made the riches of Kierkegaards thought about the divided self come alive for the ordinary reader. No one can read it without meeting him or herself again and again in its pages. For maximum profit this book should be read slowly and reflectively over a period of several days. --Robert C. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Ethics Baylor University Clifford Williams teaches philosophy at Trinity College in Deerfield Illinois. He is the author of Singleness of Heart: Restoring the Divided Soul (1994) The Life of the Mind: A Christian Perspective (2002) and The Wisdom of Kierkegaard: A Collection of Quotations on Faith and Life (2009).