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Chapter 12 - Repetition as Thought Experiment

A Method of Variation

from Part III - Kierkegaard and the Concept of Thought Experiment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2025

Eleanor Helms
Affiliation:
California Polytechnic State University
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Summary

Kierkegaard’s book Repetition, along with his descriptions of the book in Concluding Unscientific Postscript, offer a more positive characterization of thought experiments than we find in earlier works. This chapter argues that imaginary construction has a positive aim of identifying underlying continuities. I identify some similarities between Ørsted’s pursuit of invariants and Kierkegaard’s. One new addition in Kierkegaard’s discussions is the role of exceptions. An exception is a case that falls outside a rule without breaking it. Exceptions can neither establish a rule nor refute its necessity, but they can turn attention to the principles and their limits as well as further determine their scope and content. A further similarity between Kierkegaard’s work and Ørsted’s is the fact that variation must be active and free.

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Kierkegaard and the Structure of Imagination
Rethinking Thought Experiments with Kant and Ørsted
, pp. 193 - 213
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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  • Repetition as Thought Experiment
  • Eleanor Helms, California Polytechnic State University
  • Book: Kierkegaard and the Structure of Imagination
  • Online publication: 26 September 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009594929.017
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  • Repetition as Thought Experiment
  • Eleanor Helms, California Polytechnic State University
  • Book: Kierkegaard and the Structure of Imagination
  • Online publication: 26 September 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009594929.017
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Repetition as Thought Experiment
  • Eleanor Helms, California Polytechnic State University
  • Book: Kierkegaard and the Structure of Imagination
  • Online publication: 26 September 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009594929.017
Available formats
×