Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was a Danish philosopher and theologian whose work has been widely recognized as foundational both to modern psychology and existentialism. Alastair Hannay is an emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Oslo. Besides several works on Kierkegaard, including a biography, he has previously translated six volumes of Kierkegaard's writings.

"“[A] book at once so profound and byzantine that it seems to aim at evoking the very feeling it dissects. Perhaps more than any other philosopher, Kierkegaard reflected on the question of how to communicate the truths that we live by.”"