Caitlin's question (through Prof)

Caitlin's question (through Prof)

Caitlin Kelly

Blog Post

11 October 2009

The Appendix is subtitled “Offense at the Paradox (An Acoustical Illusion)”, and in it, Kierkegaard elaborates on the term offense and criticizes those men who believe that they can understand the paradox (Kierkegaard explains that this is in itself paradoxical…and yet, it is also exactly what we will try and do as a class on Monday…). In the Appendix, Kierkegaard explains, “So it is with offense. Everything it says about the paradox it has learned from the paradox, even though, making use of the acoustical illusion, it insists that it itself has originated the paradox” (53).

I am interested in the use of the term acoustical illusion. What specifically does Kierkegaard mean when he says misled men make use of the acoustical illusion? There is a much clearer way of expressing this same point, so why does the author choose lyrical phrasing? How does this relate to our conversation on Wednesday about Kierkegaard’s role as a poet?