Philosophical Fragments or Philosophical Crumbs (in Danish: Philosophiske Smuler) is a major work in philosophy and theology, written by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in 1844 under the pseudonym Johannes Climacus. The book deals with the tension between philosophy and theology in the attempt to find "... a historical starting point for an eternal Consciousness;", as opposed to the idealistic thinking of Plato, Aristotle and Hegel.
The pseudonym Johannes Climacus is a figure in Kierkegaard's many different figures who, from a non-Christian point of view, makes an attempt to investigate the possibility that God may have come to earth in Jesus Christ. He also wants to know whether one can build his salvation on this fact.
Overview and main theme
In Philosophical Fragments Climacus' hypothetical project seeks to shed light on whether a historical starting point can be given in the moment on which one can build eternal bliss. Climacus analyzes two answers to the question; a negative answer which is based on Plato's dialogue Menon, and which is called the Socratic, and a positive one which is based on an alternative position which, in contrast to the Socratic, emphasizes that the moment in time is of crucial importance. Climacus attempts to illuminate a fundamental difference between a philosophical view of the world (rational) and a theologicalview of the world as two opposites as faith is crucial to theology because faith cannot be made the object of rational thinking. Faith is incomprehensible and thus escapes all construction.