The Challenge to the Self: On Kierkegaard’s Account of Anfægtelse as Existential Trial

This paper argues that there is an important yet underexplored idea of existential trial, expressed by the notion of Anfægtelse, in Kierkegaard’s account of the human self. I argue that there are three kinds of existential trials, corresponding to the three major existential spheres: the esthetic, the ethical, and the Christian-religious. Each existential trial involves an essential conflict between two constitutive elements of the relevant sphere. They reveal the problem inherent to one’s relation to a certain “other” in all spheres, highlighting the Kierkegaardian idea that the human self is not self-grounding or self-sufficient. This points to the need for God’s grace in one’s self-development. Furthermore, I show that the religious Anfægtelse can mean two different but closely related things. It sometimes refers to a spiritual temptation that distracts one from engaging in an absolute God-relationship, and sometimes a spiritual trial to which the spiritual temptation pertains only as a part.