Philosophy and melancholy: Reflections on the role of melancholy in Kierkegaard’s and Heidegger’s philosophical thought

Abstrakt

In this paper, I would like to address the role of melancholy in Søren Kierkegaard and Martin Heidegger. I will show that both philosophers refer to ancient conceptions of melancholy and medieval acedia. It can be seen that Kierkegaard’s conceptions of melancholy touch on Aristo-tle’s Problem XXX, 1, on the one hand, and radicalize and universalize the concept of medieval acedia on the other. Likewise, references to the ancient thought of melancholy can also be found in Heidegger’s work, and implications of his Daseinsanalyse can be linked to the medieval concept of acedia. A large-scale search of Heidegger’s work on the concept of melancholia (as it is still new in the literature) also provides an important overview of the thematic field in Heidegger’s work. I would like to argue that thinking about melancholy in connection with the philosophy of Kierkegaard and Heidegger helps to understand melancholy as a possibility of reaching a new understanding of self and world — a reflection on actual values and an opening of philosophical thinking. So, I will show that Heidegger is right in assuming that melancholy is a basic mood of philosophy.