A sustained philosophical examination of despair as a condition of the self, articulated within the framework of Christian existential thought. First published in 1849 under the pseudonym Anti-Climacus, The Sickness Unto Death presents Søren Kierkegaard's analysis of despair as a misrelation within the self-a failure to achieve proper alignment between the finite and the infinite, the temporal and the eternal.
Kierkegaard develops a precise account of the self as a synthesis that must consciously relate to itself and to its grounding in the divine. Despair, in this formulation, is not merely an emotional state but a structural condition, manifesting in various forms depending on the individual's awareness of self and dependence. The work proceeds through a series of distinctions, examining unconscious despair, despair of weakness, and despair of defiance, each revealing a different mode of estrangement from authentic selfhood.
Written with conceptual rigour and theological depth, the text occupies a central place in Kierkegaard's authorship and in the broader development of existential philosophy. Its influence extends across philosophy, theology, and psychology, where its treatment of identity, anxiety, and inwardness continues to inform modern inquiry.
This edition presents the work in the established English translation by Walter Lowrie, preserving the structure and precision of Kierkegaard's argument for contemporary study.