Either/Or
The pseudonymous editor Victor Eremita presents contrasting papers associated with an aesthetic and an ethical outlook. Their tensions invite readers to examine how a life is chosen rather than accept one narrator as a final verdict.
Understanding the text
Kierkegaard wrote in nineteenth-century Copenhagen amid debates about philosophy, Lutheran Christianity and modern public life. His pseudonymous authors are constructed perspectives, not simple masks whose every statement expresses his settled view. Signed discourses, posthumous manuscripts and editions must be distinguished from the published pseudonymous books.
Key points
- 01
Aesthetic life
The aesthete explores desire, possibility and boredom while resisting stable commitments.
- 02
Ethical choice
Judge William argues that choosing oneself involves responsibility, continuity and relationships.
- 03
Indirect form
The editor’s framing makes readers compare voices without treating the entire work as a simple sermon.
Explore the ideas in depth
Choose a life, read many voices
The pseudonymous editor Victor Eremita presents contrasting papers associated with an aesthetic and an ethical outlook. Their tensions invite readers to examine how a life is chosen rather than accept one narrator as a final verdict.
Aesthetic life
The aesthete explores desire, possibility and boredom while resisting stable commitments. Kierkegaard wrote in nineteenth-century Copenhagen amid debates about philosophy, Lutheran Christianity and modern public life. His pseudonymous authors are constructed perspectives, not simple masks whose every statement expresses his settled view. Signed discourses, posthumous manuscripts and editions must be distinguished from the published pseudonymous books.
Ethical choice
Judge William argues that choosing oneself involves responsibility, continuity and relationships. Read the two volumes together and attend to the differences between a voice and its author.
Indirect form
The editor’s framing makes readers compare voices without treating the entire work as a simple sermon. The pseudonymous editor Victor Eremita presents contrasting papers associated with an aesthetic and an ethical outlook. Their tensions invite readers to examine how a life is chosen rather than accept one narrator as a final verdict.
Questions to carry into your reading
- How does a narrator’s position affect the argument?
- What does a durable commitment make possible or difficult?
Read the two volumes together and attend to the differences between a voice and its author.
How to read it
Read the two volumes together and attend to the differences between a voice and its author.
Editions & sources
Summaries and key points are original editorial interpretations. They accompany reading the work and do not replace an edition of the text. Editorial method ↗