Philosophical Fragments was published on June 13, 1844, with Johannes Climacus as author and Kierkegaard himself as editor. It is often claimed that the title of the work, Philosophical Fragments or a Fragment of Philosophy, is intended as an ironic criticism of systematic philosophy. In the text of the Fragments itself Hegel's name comes up directly only three times: twice in footnotes and once in its adjectival form in reference to Hegelians. Hegel is also mentioned in preliminary drafts of the work. There appear, moreover, a number of philosophical terms, such as “the system,” “mediation,” and “the absolute method,” which seem to be associated with Hegel or at least with Hegelians. These references are often found among criticisms of contemporaries such as Martensen and Grundtvig. It will thus be necessary to evaluate each of these references in order to determine to what degree they can be regarded as genuine allusions to Hegel.

In the Concluding Unscientific Postscript, the same pseudonymous author, Johannes Climacus, criticizes a review of the Fragments, which he believes overlooks essential aspects of the book. The review came from the pen of the Hegelian Andreas Frederik Beck (1816–61) and appeared in a German journal for theology.