Beyond the Ethical Demand_ A Critical Examination of Løgstrup’s Concept of ‘the Other’ in Light of Jesus, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Luther, and Grundtvig

This essay offers a critical examination of K. E. Løgstrup’s concept of “the other,” arguing that his ethical vision, while profoundly humane, ultimately lacks an account of the inner transformation necessary for a fully developed moral life. Løgstrup grounds ethics in the immediate vulnerability of the other person, proposing that every human encounter contains an unspoken and radical demand that precedes reflection, choice, and even religious commitment. By shifting the ethical foundation from the self’s formation to the other’s fragility, Løgstrup presents an alternative to traditional Christian and philosophical frameworks. Yet this shift raises significant questions about moral agency, freedom, and the psychological conditions that make ethical action possible. To illuminate these tensions, the essay brings Løgstrup into dialogue with five contrasting figures: Jesus of Nazareth, Friedrich Nietzsche, Søren Kierkegaard, Martin Luther, and N. F. S. Grundtvig; each of whom insists upon the indispensability of inward renewal, existential decision, or spiritual reorientation. Their perspectives reveal that Løgstrup’s ethics, in rejecting the primacy of inner transformation, risks producing a form of moral dependency akin to Nietzsche’s critique of slave morality and stands at odds with the inward depth central to Jesus, Kierkegaard, Luther, and Grundtvig. The essay concludes that while Løgstrup’s emphasis on relational responsibility remains insightful, it must be supplemented by a richer account of moral and spiritual formation.