The Anarchē of Spirit : Proudhon’s
Anti-theism & Kierkegaard’s Self in
Apophatic Perspective
Simon D. Podmore
Liverpool Hope University, UK
This essay explores the possibility of an avowedly theological an-
archē through a reading of Søren Kierkegaard’s (1813–55) theolo-
gy of “the self before God” in relation to the “anti-theism” of his
contemporary, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–65). In doing so it
establishes an apophatic dialectic between their two positions in
which human idols of ‘God’ are continually un-known in the search
for an unknowable God. Such a Wholly Other God, it is suggested,
provides a kenotic (self-limiting) model of power which subverts
anthropomorphic projections of Providential omnipotence, typical-
ly imagined as mastery over the other. A truly apophatic mode of
divine power, by contrast, is one which establishes a primal and
inviolable gift of human freedom and autonomy which is central to
Kierkegaard’s theism, Proudhon’s anti-theism, and to the apophatic
dialectic which continually emerges in the struggle between both im-
pulses. Reading with and against both Kierkegaard and Proudhon,
I propose that each provides a prescient prophetic voice against the
abuses of Divine Providence and human freedom. In concluding, I
gesture towards an anti/theology of apophasis and anarchē which is
inspired by the negations and antagonisms as well as the synergies
which exist between these two great strugglers with God.Introduction: The Anarchy of Spirit
“The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound thereof,
but cannot tell from where it came, and where it goes: so is everyone
that is born of the Spirit.”
—John 3:8How to cite this book chapter:
Podmore, S. D. 2017. The Anarchē of Spirit: Proudhon’s Anti-theism &
Kierkegaard’s Self in Apophatic Perspective. In: Christoyannopoulos, A. and
Adams, M. S. (eds.) Essays in Anarchism and Religion: Volume 1. Pp. 238–282.
Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/
bak.g. License: CC-BY