“Every speech, especially a portion of a speech, usually presupposes something from which it proceeds. He who desires to make the speech or the assertion a subject of reflection does well, therefore, to look first for this presupposition, in order to start from it. So there is also a presupposition contained in the text we read, which although it comes last is nevertheless the starting point. Therefore when we are told: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,’ then this statement contains the presupposition that every man loves himself. Consequently Christianity presupposes this, since Christianity, unlike those ambitious thinkers*, by no means begins without presuppositions, or with a flattering assumption.”
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~Source: Works of Love (1847)
Author: Søren Kierkegaard
* The Hegelians
