Observations on Unamuno and Kierkegaard

Author(s): Oscar A. Fasel

Source: Hispania , Dec., 1955, Vol. 38, No. 4 (Dec., 1955), pp. 443-450
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/335323

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 OBSERVATIONS ON UNAMUNO AND KIERKEGAARD

OSCAR A. FASEL

Oklahoma Military Academy

The generally accepted idea that ante todo, porque quiero que Dios exista,
Kierkegaard is one of the great influences y despu6s, porque se me revela, por via
in Unamuno led me to make an earnest cordial, en el Evangelio, y a trav6s de
effort to trace the extent of his influence
Cristo y de la historia."4
in Unamuno's work. I searched for a History is of value to Unamuno par-
reason which would justify Unamuno's
ticularly in tracing the essence of Ca-
calling Kierkegaard his "brother" and that is, of immortality. He pur-
tholicism,
was surprised to discover the deep gap
sues the problem of immortality as it
which separates their concepts ofdeveloped
life, historically in the essay "La
truth, and religion. On all major esencia
issues,del catolicismo," and calls the
on history, art, religion, on the relation-
whole evolution of religious thought to
ship between the individual and society,
his aid. He places the great historic
on such philosophical concepts as personalities,
unity Christ and Saint Paul, and
and nothingness, there exist diametrically
whole epochs such as Hellenism, Judaism,
opposed views. Both approach theseand prob-
the Apostolic Age in the service of
lems as men of faith. In that light histhey
immediate and intimate life with its
are presented here. Though a complete
direct bearing on immortality. In his
picture of their points of view would take
investigation he makes use, among others,
more than can be said in a brief commen-of the following great church historians
tary such as this, the observations madeof his day: Harnack, History of the Dogma;
are quite sufficient to give a fair estimate Weizsi cker, The Apostolic Age of the
of Kierkegaard's limited position in Christian Church; Tr6ltsch, The Social
Unamuno's writings. Teachings of the Christian Churches;
First let us consider their concepts ofRitschl, Justification and Redemption;
history. On May 10, 1900, Unamuno Rohde, Psyche, the Cult of the Soul and
wrote to Clarin: "El ndicleo de mi estudiothe Belief in Immortality among the Greeks;
'La fe' es de obras de teologia luterana, Pfleiderer, The Philosophy of Religion on
de Herrmann, de Harnack, de Ritschl."' a Historic Basis. The endeavor of these
Thus, Unamuno developed his idea of men is summarized by the English trans-
faith according to a theology that does lator of Harnack, Thomas Bailey
not condone "the caprice to overlook all Saunders, in these words: "They rest
that we in religion and Christendom havetheir belief on a calm review of the facts
learned from history."2 "Porque, despuds of history, and their resolution is the
de todo, Jfe cristiana qu6 es? O es la outcome, not of any sectarian prejudice,
confianza en Cristo o no es nada; en la
but of an intelligent desire to promote
persona hist6rica y en la hist6rica reve-
whatever things are wholesome and
laci6n de su vida, t6ngala cada cual como
la tuviera."3 The exemplary image of the true."5 As a result, Unamuno's concept
historic Christ, the Apostolic Age, the of the Christian faith goes beyond mysti-
great historic personalities revealed to cal individualism like Kierkegaard's, be-
Unamuno the spiritual possibilities withinyond his purely subjective approach to
human nature. They motivated his striv-faith, beyond philosophical and theo-
ing to live an independent spiritual and logical speculation, beyond the weight
religious life. "Y si creo en Dios . . . es, of tradition which supports it. The his-
443

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 444 HISPANIA

toric point value of view

of religious faith for life.interp
From that
tian faith as time ona he reassures
living us that the historic
thin
To such an historic orientation Kierke- process remains the surest way to arrive
gaard has this to say: "But faith, in the at the revelation of the basis of life and
province of its jurisdiction, raises a still
religion.1?
more essential protest against every at-The arts also demonstrate Unamuno's
tempt to approach Christ by the help and of Kierkegaard's divergent concepts of
what one happens to know of Him reality. On April 15, 1906, Unamuno
wrote to his friend Pedro Jimenez Ilun-
through history and the information his-
tory has preserved about the conse- dain: "Y lo que hago con mas gusto es
quences of His life. Faith's contention isla poesia,""11 and again on January 4,
that this whole attempt is-blasphemy."61907, "Hago versos. Es casi lo finico que
Kierkegaard relied exclusively on his hago desde dentro."12 Poetry, next to
personal religious experiences in mattersreligion, was the stabilizing element, the
of faith, on his "own little I," as he would great moral force in his life with which
say. He did not ask for God's revelations he overcame the limitations and shallow
"a trav6s de Cristo y de la historia." He effects of rational and materialistic exist-
did not ask for concrete and visible signsence. It was the activity through which
of God's existence here on earth, "en la he concretely expressed his religious con-
tierra de los hombres (i.e. in history)."'7sciousness.13 Like religion, it assumed a
In Training in Christianity, the consum-lasting cause-truth. "El arte es la su-
mation of his critical thought, we read: prema verdad, la que se crea en fuerza
"Can one learn from history anything de fe."4 As such it had for him the force
about Christ? No. Why not? Because oneof prayer, of being a "profundo 'Te
can 'know' nothing at all about 'Christ'; Deum' a la madre Naturaleza humani-
He is the paradox, the object of faith, zada."
existing only for faith. But all historical Kierkegaard, after an early enthusiasm
communication is communication of for art, discovered its meaninglessness
'knowledge,' hence from history oneand canbecame violently opposed to all forms
learn nothing about Christ.... History of aesthetic life, which he regarded as
makes out Christ to be another than He "erotic." His passion for purity of faith
truly is, and so one learns to know a lotdrove him to suppress within himself all
about-Christ? No, not about Christ, feeling for artistic values, and to admit
for about Him nothing can be known, He only one alternative: either an aesthetic
can only be believed."8' life or a religious one; either pleasure or
Kierkegaard was driven by an urge tosuffering. Art meant to him indulgence in
live the Christian faith in its purest form,pleasure, and he particularly denounced
detached from all earthly connections asas "a new paganism" efforts to picture
one who "quiere buscar la vida eterna Christ. "Would it be possible for me...
fuera de la historia."' He belonged to the
to dip my brush, to lift my chisel, in order
few who in Harnack's description "hear
to depict Christ ...? I answer, No, it
and understand the voice of God, in the
would be for me an absolute impossibil-
secret of their inner personal life." To be
sure, this personal approach to faith was
ity. . .. It is also inconceivable to me
whence the artist derives his calm . .. with
important to Unamuno. But mere intui-
which he has sat year in year out indus-
tion, feeling, subjective passion were
never strong enough to make him re-triously labouring to paint a portrait of
ligious. Not until he had studied theChrist-without chancing to reflect
historic process of faith at the turn ofwhether Christ desired perhaps to have a
the century was he convinced of theportrait made by his masterbrush ...."]

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 UNAMUNO AND KIERKEGAARD 445

Thus Kierkegaard attacked became

Hegel'sa stranger
phi- in the land of promise.
losophy of the fine arts. He left one thing behind, took one thing
with
On the other hand, Unamuno, whohim: he left his worldly wisdom be-
held
hind and took faith
with Hegel that art is an embodiment of with him."'18
the divine, did not consider his This
long type of faith is in the truest sense
poem
a "tension in
El Cristo de Veldzquez an unworthy the void,"19 "la pura nada,"
por-
trait of divinity, a "paganism." Writing
the living of "el puro cristianismo" which
Unamuno
it meant the intensification of tells us terrified Pascal20 and
the reality
of his religious experiences. to be
Itsure
was Unamuno
the himself. "Y he de
symbol in his literary work toconfesar, en efecto, por dolorosa que la
prove that
his religious life took place confesi6n
within sea,theque nunca, en los dias de
reality of human life itself, la fenot ondeami mocedad, me hicieron
ingenua
sphere apart where Kierkegaard temblarplaced
las descripciones, por truculentas
que fuesen,
religious life. It reflects his basic conceptde las torturas del infierno,
y senti experi-
of religion, that purely religious siempre ser la nada mucho mas
ences are insufficient for the whole of aterradora que e1."21 We witness the
human reality-"el total Todo," for they emphatic reversal of past values, notably
ask for absolute independence from the in the function Unamuno gives to re-
phenomenal world, from all cultural and ligion, which denies the reality of noth-
social contacts. The whole of cultural ingness and reveals the depth of human
life-artistic and intellectual, religious nature. He struggles for a richer content
and spiritual-becomes completely im- of life itself, for the dignity of man in an
manent existence in Unamuno's poetry, age in which men like Kierkegaard,
a concrete self-life, a gradual transforma- Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Tolstoi
tion to the heights of immortality, of yielded to depression, in which the anti-
"Ser Dios," as he saw the process re- theological philosophy of HMickel, Biich-
flected in the life of the great poets. "Noner, Virchow, Vogt dealt a deadly blow
se me alcanza por qu6 el Dante, Shake- to Biblical truth. He violently denounces
speare o Cervantes han de ser mas in-their philosophy as an intellectualism
tangibles que uno cualquiera de los santosthat encourages the recognition of life's
que la Iglesia cat61lica ha elevado a susnothingness. He criticizes nothingness
altares."' 1 in Leopardi and Senancour, and calls it
No such affinity between art and re- a "t6trico pesimismo" in one of his
ligion is conceivable to Kierkegaard. He favorite poets, Jose Asunci6n Silva. He
tells us in his Journals that faith alone overlooks Kierkegaard's nihilistic basis
can establish a personal relationship toof faith in his concern with actual living
God, that every other medium is a human reality, "el hombre de carne y hueso, el
attribute to faith and as such affects its que nace, sufre y muere."22 In direct
purity. It is a faith that precludes from defiance of the powerful nineteenth cen-
the very beginning any positive approach tury movement favoring life's nothing-
to man's cultural needs. Purity of faith ness, Unamuno makes life a realm of
is possible only if man leaps into the God: ". . . hemos creado a Dios para
nothing. "Self-annihilation before God" salvar al Universo de la nada."23 Nothing
is "man's truth," "his highest perfection less is at stake than "el reino del hom-
as human being."" Kierkegaard delighted bre"-life itself. He calls every man to
in extremes and submitted only to the completeness, to perfection as Jesus and
reign of the divine, which in his religion Paul defined it. "Porque la religi6n no
is devoid of all hope for humanity, for es anhelo de aniquilarse, sino de totali-
morality and civilization. "By faith, zarse, es anhelo de vida y no de muerte."24
Abraham left the land of his fathers and Opposite Kierkegaard's negative view of

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 446 HISPANIA

life stands Unamuno's affirmation: "Y adquieres tu sentido todo, pero despe-
sigo creyendo que si crey6semos todos gado de ella."30 The recognition of society
en nuestra salvaci6n de la nada seriamos as part of human reality puts his idea of
todos mejores."25 individuality in direct opposition to
In no respect does Unamuno's faith Kierkegaard's, for Kierkegaard denies
clash more decisively with Kierkegaard's the value of society. Unamuno seeks a
than in the contact it establishes with solution of the human problem not by
life. Kierkegaard speaks of faith in "via de remoci6n y exclusi6n," but by
absolute terms. Faith to him is a miracle,recognizing the truth in the nineteenth-
a passion, an end in itself. It is a service
century trend toward a definition of
which man renders to God alone. Faith man's place in society and in the uni-
may have been a miracle and a passion verse. He shows a determined will to
to Unamuno; by no means did he con- conquer the urge for a self-life in the
sider it an end in itself, a service only face
to of a new and imposing Weltgeist,
God. "Ni con inventar aquello de la fe cleansed of that "individualismo anar-
en la fe misma se salia del paso. La fe quico" which pushes man toward isola-
necesita una materia en que ejercerse."2 tion and separation. "Y digo los pueblos
The "materia" is man himself and the y no los individuos aislados, porque si
hay sentimiento y concepto colectivo,
world that surrounds him. "Considera
que no hay dentro de Dios mas que social,
tui es el de Dios, aunque el individuo
lo individualice luego."3' The individual
y el mundo."27 Unamuno clearly perceives
-"el hombre de carne y hueso"-no
God as an element of the "Yo" and at
the same time as an element of the
longer remains his own concern. He can-
world, "el mundo." God for him is withdraw
not not into the depth of his "own
little I." He must seek truth in the de-
something beyond the human sphere,
like the traditional or kierkegaardian velopment of a world-enveloping per-
God. Unamuno incorporates God into a sonality. A complete self-life is impossible
world process, a total goal--"el total without humanity and the universe.
Todo." He submits to the demands of Kierkegaard sought true reality in him-
nineteenth-century philosophy andself. Hence he defended monastic life as
theol-
ogy which give life meaning andone value
way to live to the fullest the truth of
after centuries of contempt for this individual existence. "The mystic re-
world. "No busques, pues, derecha e news and revives the last divine image
inmediatamente, fe; busca tu vida, que in man. The more he contemplates, the
si te empapas en tu vida, con ella te more clearly this image is reflected in
entrara la fe."28 Although Unamuno's him."32 Regardless of the fact that Una-
philosophical and theological studies muno consumed himself in his struggle
brought with them much complexity and with the social, political, and religious
difficulty, we cannot fail to recognize the conditions of Spain and the world in
grandeur of their attempt to make life general, he recognized that a culture
purposeful. "Cuil es tu religi6n? Y yo based on separation and total isolation
responder6: mi religi6n es buscar la ver- from the world is a wholly impossible
dad en la vida y la vida en la verdad."29 situation, and he fought the inner urge for
The great new concept in Unamuno's isolation by emphasizing the philosophi-
religion is the place of the world in man's cal concepts of unity, totality, and uni-
own character and nature. In spite of his versality as essential life values. With
these concepts he combats in En torno
intense search after the essence of life
which includes the ultimate, God and al casticismo the separating forces in
Eternity, Unamuno believes that man is traditionalism. In the essay "Adentro,"
bound to other men. "S61o en la sociedad where one would least expect him to

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 UNAMUNO AND KIERKEGAARD 447

search for a unifying link standing

between the
of Kierkegaard's separating
individual and the world, he stresses the
individualism, his essays leave no doubt
mutual contact and intermingling be-individual, no matter
that the isolated
tween men, the necessity of howassociation
much he otherwise may represent
of individuals through the the world, remains
promotion of "un atomo," "una
an inward life that reflects the total abstracci6n." "No se trata de cielo y de
truth of human reality-"el yo y el infierno para apuntalar nuestra pobre
mundo." "S61o en la sociedad te encon- moral mundana, ni se trata de nada
traris a ti mismo; si te aislas de ella no
egoista y personal. No soy yo, es el
darns mas que con un fantasma de tu linaje humano todo el que entra en
verdadero sujeto propio."33 Unity and juego; es la finalidad Uiltima de nuestra
continuity of the life process become cultura toda."37 He directs his discus-
essential characteristics of the Man of sions toward the individual, "el hombre
Flesh and Bone in Del sentimiento trd- Kant," "el hombre Spinoza," "el hombre
gico. By their means the inner tension Butler"; yet all have a common destiny
produced by life's contradiction is re-in the human family. All are "hermanos
lieved. "Todo lo que en mi conspireen a humanidad." They presuppose a psy-
romper la unidad y la continuidad de chological
mi unity between the individual
vida, conspira a destruirme ...."34 In- and humanity, a psychological relation-
deed, inward unity and totality are key ship in the totality of human life. "En-
problems with Unamuno. The isolating tr6gate, pues, a los dem.is.... Mi es-
forces in Spanish civilization steadily fuerzo por imponerme a otro, por ser y
reminded him that the individual must vivir yo en 61... es lo que da sentido
not become separated from his universal religioso a la colectividad, a la solidaridad
reality, and he presents us with an ideal,
humana... necesito aduefiarme de la
the Man of Flesh and Bone, the out- sociedad humana; como soy un producto
growth of the revolt of nineteenth-cen- social, tengo que socializarme .. soy yo
tury thought against fragmentation, proyectado al Todo."38
isolation, and separation, against all in- This is intrinsically an ideal of truth
tellectual chipping of the whole truth,and Christianity which completely over-
"la verdad verdadera." shadows Kierkegaard's subjective point
Unamuno tried desperately to recon- of view, the "radically incommunicable
cile his vision of unity between the Iin
and
personal existence." Kierkegaard rid
the world with Kierkegaard's isolatinghimself of all outside interference. He
attitude. " 'Qui6n describi6 la hermosa
denied categorically man's social con-
uni6n de los hombres mas arrebatadora- sciousness as self-deceit. The idea that it
mente que quien se qued6 solitario en lais within the power of the individual to
vida?,' dice Kierkegaard, uno de los masrelieve the tension caused by life's con-
grandes solitarios."'5 Unamuno could not tradiction and to achieve a degree of
wholly free himself of the inner urge forharmony between the opposites, between
a self-life as Kierkegaard represents it.the I and the world, between the tem-
He recognized the dignity and value ofporal and the eternal order of life, is
the great solitary men in history, their unthinkable to him. Not even in the
originality and universality, their "labor
remotest sense can the gulf between the
humana" as the individualization of the opposites be narrowed, least of all closed
eternal and universal content-the hu- as Hegel taught and Unamuno believed.
man spirit. "Los grandes solitarios son, Paradox, contrast, disunity, and contra-
en efecto, los que mis han derramado sus diction make up the content of life for
espiritus entre los hombres; los mis so- Kierkegaard. He condemned Hegel's con-
ciables."36 But in spite of his deep under-
cept of unity and totality as unreal, a

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 448 HISPANIA

fallacy of systematic thou

very key to his writings. Brandes' failure
mate victory is "a
to place Kierkegaard's faithroad
in its proper to
Where then does
historic perspective leaves the
the impressionpoi
lie between that Unamuno
Kierkegaard's theology is funda- and
On what can we base Unamuno's deep mentally that of the priest Brand. It
veneration for Kierkegaard? His essays certainly was Unamuno's impression:
reveal that he read only two of Kierke- "... y lo cierto es que en el fondo de la
gaard's works: Concluding Unscientific dramaturgia de Ibsen esta la teologia de
Postscript, to which I counted eight refer- Kierkegaard"44 "... y cuanto dure Brand
ences in Del sentimiento trdgico, and durard Kierkegaard." '4
Either/Or, which he read late in life.39 This is a grave error. Ibsen, who was
Yet his enthusiasm for Kierkegaard well acquainted with Kierkegaard's writ-
dates back to the year 1900. At that time ings, protested the exuberance of the
Unamuno's attention was drawn to Ib- Scandinavian critics who searched among
sen's popularity, and he read Brandes' their nationals for his "model." He was
criticism of Ibsen's work.40 Brandes, particularly annoyed with Brandes' com-
following the "Kierkegaard agitation" parison of his Brand with Kierkegaard.
(Brandes) in the Nordic countries, was "Brand is myself in my best moments,"
eager to bring his countryman Kierke- he declared.46
gaard to the attention of the world, and Ibsen's objection is well founded. His
he compared him to the priest Brand, Brand represents the idea of faith,
the main character in Ibsen's popular initiated in the nineteenth century, which
drama of the same name, making such strives for a synthesis of all life values,
statements as these: "There is in the for a reconciliation of life and faith. "La
priest Brand and in Kierkegaard vida
the y la fe han de fundirse."47 This is a
same sense of isolation.., .the same willwholly unkierkegaardian concept. Kierke-
for self-sacrifice and strength of char- gaard insists that truly religious experi-
acter.. . the same stress on personal ences serve the interests of God alone and
not of human life. He feels that Chris-
sincerity that forces his individualism to
an excess... the same conviction that tianity has become the victim of man's
in every human being there slumbers consciousness of this world, and he em-
the soul of a warrior, an invincible phasizes the opposite as fundamental in
power.., .the same attempt to under- Christianity, namely, the nothingness of
mine the authority of the church... all that is earthly, the idea of self-an-
the same despairing beating of the head nihilation.
against a stone wall."41 These were the Clearly Unamuno's interest could not
first impressions Unamuno had of Kierke-have been in Kierkegaard the thinker
gaard, and they were lasting. but in Kierkegaard the man, the fighter,
Unamuno confirms the effect of the individualist, the non-conformist who
Brandes' presentation of Kierkegaard in the evils of this world, who
fought
a revealing statement in the essay "Ibsen
passionately defied all authority, secular
y Kierkegaard" (1907) where he says: as well as religious. In the truest sense
"Fu6 el critico de Ibsen, Brandes, quien
of the word, this reactionary yet deeply
me llev6 a conocer a Kierkegaard ...."42
religious man was a brother to Unamuno
The implications of this indirect orienta-
in a hostile world that tried to deprive
tion are far-reaching. Unamuno saw him of his own convictions.
Kierkegaard through the eyes of the
critic Brandes, the "atheistic church NOTES

enemy"43 who held but slight interest 1 Unamuno, Epistolario a Clarin (Madrid,
in Kierkegaard's concept of faith, the1941), p. 101.

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 UNAMUNO AND KIERKEGAARD 449

2Agnes von Zahn-Harnack, 17 Adolf

David F. Swenson,
von Harnack
Something about Kierke-
(Berlin, 1951), p. 227. gaard (Minneapolis, 1941), p. 87.
8Unamuno, El caballero 18 de Kierkegaard,
la triste Fear and Trembling (London,
figura
(Buenos Aires, 1944), p. 160. 1946), p. 13.
4 Unamuno, Mi religion y otros 19 Guido de Ruggiero, Existentialism
ensayos breves (New
(Buenos Aires, 1945), p. 12. York, 1947), p. 59.
5 Adolf von Harnack, Christianity 10 Unamuno, La agonia,
and p. 86.
History
(London, 1900), p. 9. 21 Unamuno, Del sentimiento trdgico de la vida
6 Soeren Kierkegaard, "The(Buenos Obstacle,"
Aires, 1947),Train-
p. 42.
ing in Christianity (Princeton, 22 Ibid., p. 9. 1944), sec. C.
7 c.... la historia es el pensamiento 23 Ibid., p. 130. de Dios
en la tierra de los hombres." Unamuno, La 24 Ibid., p. 179.
agonia del cristianismo (Buenos Aires, 1942), 25 Ibid., p. 43.
p. 86. 28 Ibid., p. 155.
8 Kierkegaard, op. cit., "The Obstacle," sec. B. 27 Unamuno, El caballero, p. 137.
9 Unamuno, La agonia, p. 86. 28 Ibid., p. 156.
10 Father Quintin P4rez points to the influence 29 Unamuno, Mi religidn, p. 10.
of the theologians who made historic knowledge '3 Unamuno, El caballero, p. 137.
the key to faith. He writes in his book, El 31 Unamuno, Del sentimiento, p. 131.
pensamiento religioso de Unamuno frente al de 32 Kierkegaard, Either/Or, a Fragment of Life
la iglesia (Valladolid, 1946), p. 165: "En la (Princeton, 1944), p. 203. The contemplative,
cuesti6n de Jesucristo no hace mAs que repetir monastic life-"la visi6n beatifica"-is un-
la concepci6n y hasta las frases de Harnack y
realistic to Unamuno. Not in the flight from
los 'Historiadores del dogma,' racionalistas." family and earthly possessions is perfection t
Nemesio Gonzalez Caminero, Professor of be found, but in the common life of mankin
Modern Philosophy at the Universidad Ponti- "La moral monAstica, la puramente momnstic
ficia de Comillas (Santander) says in the first?no es un absurdo? Y llamo aquf moral mon
volume of his work Unamuno (Santander, 1948), tica a la del cartujo solitario, a la del eremit
pp. 116-117: "La mano de Harnack es tan que huye del mundo--llevdndolo acaso consig
visible en toda lucubraci6n hist6rico-eclesiAs- -para vivir solo y a solas con un Dios solo tam
tica de Unamuno, que muchas veces se trata biWn y solitario" (Del sentimiento, pp. 229-230
de una mera traducci6n de las palabras ale- 33 Unamuno, El caballero, p. 137.
manas en castellano. Lo comprueban sus libros 34 Unamuno, Del sentimiento, p. 16.
de ms fondo religioso, como Del sentimientoas Unamuno, Soledad, p. 49.
trdgico de la vida y La agonia del cristianismo,36 Ibid.
y los ensayos mis explicitamente relativos al 37 Unamuno, Del sentimiento, p. 106. Cf. p. 2
problema de la fe, que no son, por otra parte,"El hombre, pues, en su estado de individuo
nms que avances y primeros disefios de las aislado, no ve, ni oye, ni toca, ni gusta, ni huele
mismas ideas expuestas despu6s en esos libros mAs que lo que necesita para vivir y conser-
mayores y en la Vida de Don Quijote y Sancho.varse.... Pero el hombre ni vive solo ni es
En cuestiones como el origen de la fe cristiana individuo aislado, sino que es miembro de
en la resurrecci6n de Jesds, la importancia his- sociedad, encerrando no poca verdad aquel
t6rica del arrianismo, el significado de ciertos dicho de que el individuo, como el dtomo, es
acontecimientos religiosos como el Concilio de una abstracci6n."
Nicea para la evoluci6n de la fe cristiana, y 38 Unamuno, Del sentimiento, p. 224.
otros puntos de vista religiosos, Unamuno los39 In 1932, in the preface to "San Manuel
ha tomado de aquellas lecturas dvidas, aunque Bueno, Mdrtir," Unamuno makes this reveal-
bien trabajosas, que hacia sobre las obras de
Harnack."
ing statement: "Precisamente ahora, cuando
estoy componiendo este pr6logo, he acabado de
1iHern~n Benitez, El drama religioso de
Unamuno (Buenos Aires, 1949), p. 415. leer la obra: 'O lo uno o lo otro' (Enten-Eller)
12 Ibid., p. 416. de mi favorito Soeren Kierkegaard, obra cuya
13 "Esos salmos de mis Poesias, con otraslectura
varias dej4 interrumpida hace unos afios-
composiciones que alli hay, son mi religi6n,antes deymi destierro" (Feb. 1924).
mi religi6n cantada y no expuesta 16gica y 40 Unamuno wrote on April 3, 1900, to Clarin:
razonadamente." Mi religidn, p. 14. "Ahora que traduzco ya el dano-noruego o
14 Unamuno, Vida de Don Quijote y Sancho norso-dands voy a chapuzarme en el te6logo
(Buenos Aires, 1945), p. 190. y pensador Kierkegaard fuente capital de
15 Kierkegaard, op. cit., p. 248. Ibsen, que decia de joven que aspiraba a ser
16 Unamuno, Soledad (Buenos Aires, 1946), p. el poeta de Kierkegaard, segfin he leido en el
53. libro de Brandes sobre Ibsen, que es donde

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 450 HISPANIA

empec6 a aprender dan6s

Prophet des Nordens," in Aufsatze zur Litera- (tar
biendo alemin tur- unde ingl6s)"
Geistesgeschichte, Berlin, 1929. (Epis
41 Georg Brandes, 44 Unamuno, Mi religidn, p. 51.
Creative Sp
teenth Century 45 Unamuno, Mi religidn, p. 52. York, 19
(New
B. Anderson. See his essay, "Henrik Ibsen" 46 Ibsen, Brand (New York, 1911), trans. C. H.
(1883). Herford, III, 3.
42 Unamuno, Mi religidn, p. 51. 4 Unamuno introduces the essay "La fe" with
43 Rudolf Unger, "Kierkegaard, der religi6se this quotation from Ibsen's Brand.

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