Kierkegaard, Løgstrup and the Conditions of Love: From God's Grace to Life as a Gift

Abstract

In this article, I consider how pride and anxiety can prevent us from loving the neighbour, and how Søren Kierkegaard and K.E. Løgstrup offer two different ways in which these obstacles might be overcome. For Kierkegaard, this is made possible if we stand in the right relation to God, while for Løgstrup it is made possible if we understand life as a gift. The differences and respective merits of both approaches are explored, and in particular whether Løgstrup's approach can claim to offer a secular alternative to the role that Kierkegaard gives to God's grace in making neighbour love possible.