David Ferdinand Swenson (October 29, 1876 – February 11, 1940) was an authority on the life and writings of the Danish philosopher,

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , , ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on ...

Work

Swenson is best known as the first of the translators of the works of

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

writer Soren Kierkegaard into the English Language. He was born in Kristinehamn, Sweden and moved to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

with his parents in 1882, when he was 6 years old. He was educated in the public schools of Minneapolis and in 1894 entered the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. Upon graduation he was offered a position as assistant professor in the department of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at that same university. By 1917 Swenson had progressed to the rank of full professor. His interest in Kierkegaard began in 1901 when he was looking through the books in the city library and came across a thick book about the size of Kant's ''Critique of Pure Reason'' and decided to read it. The book was Soren Kierkegaard's 1846 book ''

Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments ''Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments'' ( da, Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift til de philosophiske Smuler) is a major work by Søren Kierkegaard. The work is an attack against Hegelianism, the philosophy of He ...

'' in Danish. Swenson enjoyed it so much that he devoted the rest of his life to making Kierkegaard's writings available to the English reading public. Most Kierkegaard scholars read Swenson's translations before Howard V. and Edna H. Hong translated Kierkegaard again and started the Hong Kierkegaard Library. Swenson taught a course on ''Great Thinkers of the Nineteenth Century'' in 1914 and introduced Soren Kierkegaard to his audience. Later he contributed an article about Kierkegaard in 1916 to ''

The Philosophical Review ''The Philosophical Review'' is a quarterly journal of philosophy edited by the faculty of the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University and published by Duke University Press (since September 2006). Overview The journal publishes original ...

'' and a monograph about him for ''Scandinavian Studies and Notes'' in 1921. Swenson's translation of Kierkegaard's ''

Philosophical Fragments ''Philosophical Fragments'' (Danish title: ) is a Christian philosophical work written by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in 1844. It was the second of three works written under the pseudonym ''Johannes Climacus''; the other two were ''De o ...

'' in 1936 was reviewed by The

International Journal of Ethics ''Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1890 as the ''International Journal of Ethics'', renamed in 1938, and published since 1923 by the University of C ...

in 1937. The reviewer said Swenson "rendered the English-Speaking public a distinguished service" in translating the work. Swenson's translation of ''

Either/Or ''Either/Or'' ( Danish: ''Enten – Eller'') is the first published work of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Appearing in two volumes in 1843 under the pseudonymous editorship of ''Victor Eremita'' (Latin for "victorious hermit"), it ...

'' was reviewed in 1945 and his translation of ''

Works of Love ''Works of Love'' ( da, Kjerlighedens Gjerninger) is a work by Søren Kierkegaard written in 1847. It is one of the works which he published under his own name, as opposed to his more famous "pseudonymous" works. ''Works of Love'' deals primarily ...

'' was reviewed in 1947. Kierkegaardian scholar Robert L. Perkins noted both the value of Swenson and Lowrie's translations in some of his works. Swenson's goal was to make the writings of Soren Kierkegaard known to the English reading public. He and his wife, Lillian Marvin Swenson, translated many of Kierkegaard's works into English before David died in 1940. Lillian continued David's work with another Kierkegaard scholar, Walter Lowrie until her death in 1961.''David F. Swenson'' Biographical Note from Social Archive Virginia Edu
/ref> They were married in 1912 and she also graduated from The University of Minnesota, in 1898.

Bibliography

* ''Philosophical Fragments'' by Soren Kierkegaard 1936 translation * ''Concluding Unscientific Postscript'' by Soren Kierkegaard 1941 translation * ''Thoughts on crucial situations in human life; three discourses on imagined occasions'', by Søren Kierkegaard 1941 translation * ''Edifying Discourses'' by Søren Kierkegaard in 4 volumes 1943-1945 translation * ''Either/or; a fragment of life'', by Soren Kierkegaard 1944 translation

References

External links

* David F. Swenson, 194
''Something About Kierkegaard''
* David F. Swenson and Lillian Marvin Swenson 194
Kierkegaardian philosophy in the faith of a scholar, ed. by Lillian M. Swenson
* Philip J. Anderson, Dag Blanck, 2001 ''David F. Swenson, Evolution and Public Education in Minnesota'
from Swedes in the Twin Cities: Immigrant Life and Minnesota's Urban Frontier, p. 302ff

David F Swenson Works
from Philosophy Papers *David F. Sweno
Wikisource
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swenson, David 1876 births 1940 deaths University of Minnesota alumni American translators Kierkegaard scholars