Elisabete M. SOUSA, 'Kierkegaard's International Reception: Portugal, Discontinuity and Repetition'... Delfim Santos (1907–66), who started mentioning Kierkegaard regularly as early as 1933, i.e., before Casais Monteiro’s translation of The Sickness unto Death. [20] (...) On the other hand, Delfim Santos’ influence was predominantly institutional; a professor at the University of Lisbon, he was, among Coimbra’s disciples, the one who left an indelible presence in Philosophy and Pedagogy Studies until his death. Though he did not hold a Philosophy chair, he was the head of the Pedagogical Sciences Department for almost twenty years; this enabled him to influence various generations of graduate students who had to pass difficult entrance examinations to be admitted to teaching posts at public secondary schools. [23]
Delfim Santos read Kierkegaard in German, and his main philosophical interest and points of
references were Heidegger and Nicolai Hartmann; he contributed regularly to
general and philosophical publications and to the daily press, besides
publishing four main works. From 1933 until one of his last articles in 1966, he made
constant reference to Kierkegaard, though he focused especially on his role in the
emergence of the philosophy of Heidegger and on his influence on existentialism. He always
underscored the unique nature of Kierkegaard’s thought, accurately presenting
the philosopher’s point of view on irony, subjectivity, anxiety, despair, among
other key concepts, not forgetting to signal the first centenary of Kierkegaard’s death in
the opening speech of the first Philosophy Congress in Portugal in 1955.
[24] Elisabete M. SOUSA, Kierkegaard's International Reception: Portugal, Discontinuity and Repetition. Abingdon: Ashgate 2009, 6-7.[notes] [20] - In the essay “Dialéctica Totalista” (Presença, vol. 2, no. 39, 1933) Delfim Santos reviewed the theory of stages and the concept of liberty as action (see Obras Completas de Delfim Santos (1971–1977; 1995), vol. 1, Lisbon: Fundação Gulbenkian 1971, pp. 31–8).
[23] - In an “In Memoriam” article, his role as professor and his philosophy (including
the role of Kierkegaard in his thought) are acknowledged by eight representative
personalities of his time (from editors to academy colleagues). See “Delfim Santos: um Destino
Português,” O Tempo e o Modo, nos. 43–4, 1966, pp. 1080–1101. |
