Soren Kierkegaard

again there was nothing abnormal. Kierkegaard slept terribly during the
night of Thursday, October 4 to Friday, October 5, frequently coughing
up some secretion. He also had diarrhea, and was therefore prescribedinfusio
saleprod, a mild astringent extracted from the rhizome of an orchid. Kierke-
gaard had gone through most of the night without urinating, and the hospi-
tal journal noted: “He had to urinate frequently today, perhaps because of
his previously mentioned aversion for urinating in the presence of others
(the night nurse), and he thinks about it almost all the time. He even believes
that this problem has had a pervasive effect on his life, making him into an
eccentric.” It was also noted that Kierkegaard had usedvaleriane officinalis,
an extract of valerian root with sedative qualities. It was not stated when or
how often he had used it, but in hisHandbook for Therapy, Oluf Lundt Bang
had listedvaleriane officinalisas a drug against epilepsy.
Not many people knew that Kierkegaard had been admitted to the hospi-
tal. People continued to write about him as if he might come storming
through the door at any moment, but on October 6, Carsten Hauch wrote
to Ingemann about their common bane: “Just recently Søren Kierkegaard
is said to have been stricken with an attack of apoplexy, of which death is
the likely consequence. Most likely illness, nervous stress, and a sort of
convulsive irritability have played a large role in his bitter and negative
activities, during which he displayed to the entire world his face, marked
as it was by hatred of humanity.” On this same occasion Hauch called Kier-
kegaard an “acute but ice-cold spirit, whose words are as sharp as icicles.”
Indeed, Kierkegaard was a “false prophet,” who certainly “presents us with
great gifts but with a heart so hollow that he plainly says that it really makes
no difference to him whether the world is Christian or not,” and all the
while he himself “loudly proclaims that he is more or less the only person
who can see what true Christianity is, bluntly declaring that God hates
humanity.”
During the following week Kierkegaard’s condition deteriorated. His
ability to support himself on his legs diminished further, and his left leg
became increasingly paralyzed. In addition, there were now back pains,
which were treated by rubbing the patient’s back with oil of turpentine.
Essensia valeriane officinalis, which had even stronger sedative qualities than
the valerian extract used previously, was now prescribed. Twenty-five
drops, four times a day. The “#bottle Bavarian-style beer” that was also
prescribed had a somewhat less clinical ring, but the very next day Kierke-
gaard refused to take it because of “religious convictions,” as the hospital
journal put it. Instead, he was given a special tea made from a blend of dried
clover, chamomile flowers, and arnica flowers. He was supposed to drink a