In Chapter 4, I take up two problems. The first problem focuses on “noninstitutional” violations of people’s rights. The second problem focuses on affluent people’s positive obligations in the face of slow-moving institutional change. In response, I develop an account of negative and positive interpersonal obligations. I first argue that while we have a primary obligation to advance institutional justice, we also have interpersonal obligations that constrain our interpersonal behavior. If human rights norms don’t apply to interpersonal interactions, then a human rights theory won’t be able to account for noninstitutional violations. In response to the second problem, I draw from Peter Singer’s shallow pond example and the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). Building on these examples, I argue that affluent people have greater obligations to severely poor people than commonsense judgments suggest.

This chapter first offers an overview of key concepts in The Sickness unto Death, such as human nature, self, despair, and wholeheartedness. It then discusses the relation between Part One and Part Two of The Sickness unto Death, offering a comparison of different types of despair (or doublemindedness). In this connection, it discusses the relations between faith and reason, and philosophy and theology. It is argued that the relatively neglected Part Two of The Sickness unto Death, entitled “Despair is Sin,” reinterprets the problem of despair from Part One by introducing the Christian concept of sin. In Part Two, sin represents an unwillingness to be oneself before God that involves self-deception. Overcoming despair, on the other hand, requires an unconditional will to be oneself before God. However, the latter does not accept everything as it is but rather hopes against hope to reconcile ideals with reality. For Kierkegaard, this hope is interconnected with Christian faith, charity, and moral commitment. Indeed, overcoming despair by forming a wholehearted or coherent self represents a fundamental moral and religious task according to Kierkegaard.