Prudence and Openness in Kierkegaard's Lilies and Birds

A critique of prudence (Klogskab) runs throughout Kierkegaard’s many discourses on the birds and lilies text in Matthew, taking part in a wider critique in his work of the so-called “pagan virtues”. In these writings, he presents the lilies and birds as models of open or exposed being, in opposition to the human tendency toward self-enclosure and a corresponding prudence that acts to protect the self from risk. In this chapter I show that this is not merely a contrast between two modes of existential orientation, but also between two models of reality.