THE ETHICAL AND THEOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE IN KIERKEGAARD AND UNAMUNO.

Abstract

This article examines the ethical and theological function of language in the thought of Søren Kierkegaard and Miguel de Unamuno, aiming to show how both philosophers conceive language as an indispensable mediation between individual existential experience and its conceptual, social, and communicable articulation. The central argument maintains that, rather than completely rejecting conceptual systems, Kierkegaard and Unamuno understand them as a necessary yet insufficient intermediate stage on the path toward an authentic religious experience. Methodologically, the study adopts a comparative and hermeneutic approach, analyzing key notions such as Kierkegaard’s stages of existence (aesthetic, ethical, and religious) and Unamuno’s distinction between reflective and reflexive knowledge. The analysis draws on a philosophical tradition ranging from classical antiquity to Kant, Hegel, and Heidegger, and addresses language as a paradoxical phenomenon—abstract and general, yet oriented toward the concrete and the singular. The article also discusses the issue of philosophical translation in Unamuno’s work, examining translations into several European languages and showing how linguistic choices shape the reception of his ideas. The scope of the study lies in demonstrating that, for both thinkers, language is neither the origin nor the ultimate end of human existence, but a means that serves faith, ethical responsibility, and lived experience, privileging the “living word” over the “dead letter.”