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'''Either/Or''' (original Danish title: '''Enten-Eller''') is an influential book written by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in 1843, in which he explores the aesthetic and ethical "phases" or "stages" of existence.Warburton, Nigel. ''Philosophy: The Classics'', 2nd edition. Routledge, ISBN 0-415-23998-2Kierkegaard, Søren. ''The Essential Kierkegaard'', edited by Howard and Edna Hong. Princeton, ISBN 0-691-01940-1Magill, Frank N. ''Masterpieces of World Philosophy''. HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-270051-0Gardiner, Patrick. ''Kierkegaard: Past Masters''. Oxford, ISBN 978-0-19-287642-3
''Either/Or'' portays the two lifeviews, one being consciously hedonistic and one based on ethical duty and responsibility, in two volumes. Each lifeview is written and represented by a fictional pseudonymous author and the prose of the work depends on which lifeview is being discussed. For example, the aesthetic lifeview is written in short essay form, with poetic imagery and allusions, discussing aesthetic topics such as music, seduction, drama, and beauty. The ethical lifeview is written as two long letters, with a more argumentative and restraint prose, discussing moral responsibility, critical reflection, and marriage. The views of the book are not neatly summarized, but are expressed as lived experiences and embodied by the pseudonymous authors. The book's central concern is the question asked by Aristotle, "How should we live?"
Historical context
After writing and defending his dissertation ''The Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates'' (1841), Kierkegaard left Copenhagen in October 1841 to spend the winter in Berlin. The main purpose of this visit was to attend the lectures by the German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling who was an eminent figure at the time. The lectures turned out to be a disappointment for many in Schelling's audience, including Mikhail Bakunin and Friedrich Engels, and Kierkegaard described it as ''unbearable nonsense''.Chamberlin, Jane and Jonathan Ree. The Kierkegaard Reader. Blackwell, Oxford, 0-631-20467-9 During Kierkegaard's stay, as well as working on the manuscript for ''Either/Or'', he took daily lessons to perfect his German and attended operas, particularly by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Kierkegaard returned to Copenhagen in March 1842 with part of his manuscript completed. It was completed near the end of 1842 and published in February 1843.
The title ''Either/Or'' is an affirmation of Aristotelian logic, particularly
★ Law of identity (A = A; a thing is identical to itself)
★ Law of excluded middle (either A or not-A; a thing is either something or its opposite, no third option)
★ Law of non-contradiction. (not both A and not-A; a thing cannot be both true and not true in the same instant)
In Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's work, ''The Science of Logic'' (1812), Hegel had criticized Aristotle's laws of classical logic for being static and being, rather than dynamic and becoming, and replaced it with his own dialectical logic. Hegel formulated addendums for Aristotle's laws:[1][2][3]Beiser, Frederick C. ''The Cambridge Companion to Hegel''. Cambridge, ISBN 0521387116Watts, Michael. ''Kierkegaard''. Oneworld, ISBN 1851683178
★ Law of identity is inaccurate because a thing is always more than itself
★ Law of excluded middle is inaccurate because a thing can be both itself and many others
★ Law of non-contradiction is inaccurate because everything in existence is both itself and not itself
Kierkegaard argues that Hegel's philosophy dehumanized life by denying personal freedom and choice through the neutralization of the 'either/or'. The dialectic structure of becoming renders existence far too easy, in Hegel's theory, because conflicts are eventually mediated and disappear automatically because of a natural process that requires no individual choice other than a submission to the will of the Idea or ''Geist''. Kierkegaard saw this as a denial of true selfhood and instead advocated the importance of personal responsibility and choice-making.
Structure
The book is the first of Kierkegaard's works written pseudonymously, a practice which he employed during the first half of his career. In this case, four pseudonyms are used: "''Victor Eremita''", "''A''", "''Judge Vilhelm''", and "''Johannes''". Victor Eremita is the fictional compiler and editor of the texts, which he claims to have found in an antique escritoire. "''A''" is the moniker given to the fictional author of the first text ("Either") by Victor Eremita, whose real name he claims to have not known. "''Judge Vilhelm''" is the fictional author of the second text ("Or"), while "''Johannes''" is the fictional author of a section of 'Either'; "The Diary of a Seducer".
Either
| "Something marvelous happened to me. I was transported to the seventh heaven. There sat all the gods assembled. As a special dispensation, I was granted the favor of making a wish. "Do you wish for youth," said Mercury, "or for beauty, or power, or a long life; or do you wish for the most beautiful woman, or any other of the many fine things we have in our treasure chest? Choose, but only one thing!" For a moment I was bewildered; then I addressed the gods, saying: "My esteemed contemporaries, I choose one thing — that I may always have the laughter on my side." Not one god said a word; instead, all of them began to laugh. From that I concluded that my wish was granted and decided that the gods knew how to express themselves with good taste: for it would indeed have been inappropriate to reply solemnly: It is granted to you." |
| ''A''; ''Diapsalmata'' (Hong Translation, slightly abbreviated) |
The first volume, the "Either", describes the "aesthetic" phase of existence. It contains a collection of papers, found by ''Victor Eremita'', the pseudonymous editor, and found to have been written by a pseudonymous author, whom Victor calls, ''A'', the aesthete.
The aesthete, accordingly to Kierkegaard's model, will eventually find him or herself in "despair," a psychological state (explored further in Kierkegaard's ''The Concept of Dread'' and ''The Sickness Unto Death'') that results from a recognition of the limits of an aesthetic approach to life. Kierkegaard's "despair" is a somewhat analogous precursor of existential angst. The natural reaction is to make a "leap" to the second phase, the "ethical," which is characterized as a phase in which rational choice and commitment replace the capricious and inconsistent longings of the aesthetic mode. Ultimately, for Kierkegaard, the aesthetic and the ethical are both superseded by the final phase, which he terms the "religious" mode.
Diapsalmata
The first section of ''Either'' is a collection of many tangential aphorisms, epigrams, anecdotes and musings on the aesthetic mode of life. The word 'diapsalmata' is related to 'psalms', and means "refrains". The section contains some of Kierkegaard's most famous and poetic lines, such as "What is a poet?", "Freedom of Speech" vs. "Freedom of Thought", the "Unmovable chess piece", the tragic clown, and the laughter of the gods.[4]
The Immediate Stages of the Erotic, or Musical Erotic
An essay discussing the idea that music expresses the spirit of sensuality. ''A'' evaluates Mozart's Cherubino, Papageno and Don Giovanni and Goethe's Faust.
Essays read before the Symparanekromenoi
The next three sections are essays lectures from ''A'' to the ''Symparanekromenoi'', a club or fellowship of the dead. The first essay is called the ''Ancient Tragical Motif as Reflected in the Modern'' which discusses ancient and modern tragedy.
The second essay is called ''Shadowgraphs: A Psychological Pastime''. The essay discusses modern heroines, including Mozart's Elvira and Goethe's Gretchen.
The third essay is called ''The Unhappiest One'' and discusses who deserves the distinction of being unhappier than everyone else.
The First Love
Examines the concept of 'First Love' as a pinnacle for the aestheticist, using his idiosyncratic concepts of 'closedness' (''indesluttethed'' in Danish) and the 'demonic' (''demoniske'') with reference to Eugène Scribe.
Crop Rotation: An Attempt at a Theory of Social Prudence
In agriculture, one rotates the crop to keep the soil fertile and full of nutrients. Crop Rotation in ''Either/Or'' refers to the aesthete's need to keep life "interesting", to avoid boredom and to avoid facing the responsibilities of an ethical life.
Diary of a Seducer
Written by ''Johannes the Seducer'', this volume illustrates how the aesthete holds the ''interesting'' as his highest value, and in life attempts to manipulate his situation from a boring one to an interesting one, to satisfy his voyeuristic reflections. He uses irony, artifice, caprice, imagination and arbitrariness to engineer poetically satisfying possibilities; he is not so interested in the act of seduction, but in willfully creating the interesting possibility of seduction.
Or
| "Do not interrupt the flight of your soul; do not distress what is best in you; do not enfeeble your spirit with half wishes and half thoughts. Ask yourself and keep on asking until you find the answer, for one may have known something many times, acknowledged it; one may have willed something many times, attempted it--and yet, only the deep inner motion, only the heart's indescribable emotion, only that will convince you that what you have acknowledged belongs to you, that no power can take it from you--for only the truth that builds up is truth for you." |
| Judge Vilhelm; ''Ultimatium'' (Hong Translation) |
The second volume represents the ethical stage. Victor Eremita found a group of letters from a retired Judge Vilhelm or William, another pseudonymous author, to ''A'', trying to convince ''A'' of the value of the ethical stage of life. However, an ethical person can still enjoy aesthetic values. The difference is that the pursuit of pleasure is tempered with ethical values and responsibilities.
★ ''The Aesthetic Validity of Marriage'': The first letter is about the aesthetic value of marriage and defending marriage as a way of life.
★ ''Equilibrium between the Aesthetic and the Ethical in the Development of Personality'': The second letter is about the more explicit ethical subject of choosing the good, or one's self, and of the value of making binding life-choices.
★ ''Ultimatium'': The volume ends in a discourse on the Upbuilding in the Thought that against God we are always in the wrong.
Introducing the ethical stage it is moreover unclear if Kierkegaard acknowledges an ethical stage without religion. Freedom seems to denote freedom to choose the will to do the right and to denounce the wrong in a secular, almost Kantian style. However, mourning (''angeren'') seems to be a religious category specifically related to the Christian concept of deliverance.[5]
Discourses and Sequel
Along with this work, Kierkegaard published, under his own name, two upbuilding discourses on May 16, 1843 intended to complement ''Either/Or'', titled ''The Expectancy of Faith'' and ''Every Good and Every Perfect Gift is from Above''.Kierkegaard, Søren. ''Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses''. Princeton, ISBN 0-691-02087-6. Kierkegaard also published another discourse during the printing of the second edition of ''Either/Or'' in 1849.[6]
In addition to the discourses, one week after ''Either/Or'' was published, Kierkegaard published a newspaper article in the Fædrelandet titled ''Who Is the Author Of Either/Or?'', attempting to create authorial distance from the work, emphasizing the content of the work and the embodiment of a particular way of life in each of the pseudonyms. Kierkegaard as the pseudonym A.F. writes, "most people, including the author of this article, think it is not worth the trouble to be concerned about who the author is. They are happy not to know his identity, for then they have only the book to deal with, without being bothered or distracted by his personality."[7]
The Ultimatium at the end of the second volume of ''Either/Or'' hinted at a future discussion of the religious stage. This discussion is included in ''Stages on Life's Way'' (1845). The first two sections revisit and refine the aesthetic and ethical stages elucidated in ''Either/Or'', while the third section, ''Guilty/Not Guilty'' is about the religious stage.Kierkegaard, Søren. ''Stages on Life's Way'', trans. Howard and Edna Hong. Princeton University Press, ISBN 9780691020495
Themes
The various essays in ''Either/Or'' help elucidate the various forms of aestheticism and ethical existence. Both A and Judge Vilhelm attempt to focus primarily upon the best that their mode of existence has to offer.
|  'Three Stages of Life'. ''Either/Or'' discusses the aesthetic and ethical stages or spheres. An ethical person is still capable of aesthetic enjoyment. The size of the spheres are for illustrative purposes only. |
A fundamental characteristic of the aesthete is ''immediacy''. In ''Either/Or'', there are several levels of immediacy explored, ranging from unrefined to refined. Unrefined immediacy is characterized by immediate cravings for desire and satisfaction through enjoyments that do not require effort or personal cultivation. Alcohol, drugs, one-night stands, couch-potatoes and other self-indulgent lifestyles are some such examples of unrefined immediacy. Refined immediacy is characterized by planning how best to enjoy life aesthetically. The "theory" of social prudence given in ''Crop Rotation'' is an example of refined immediacy. Instead of mindless hedonistic tendencies, enjoyments are contemplated and "cultivated" for maximum pleasure. However, both the refined and unrefined aesthetes still accept the fundamental given conditions of their life, and do not accept the responsibility to change it. If things go wrong, the aesthete simply blames existence, rather than one's self, assuming some unavoidable tragic consequence of human existence and thus claims life is meaningless.
Commitment is an important characteristic of the ethicist. Commitments are made by being an active participant in society, rather than a detached observer or outsider. The ethicist has a strong sense of responsibility, duty, honor and respect for his friendships, family, and career. Judge Vilhelm uses the example of marriage as an example of an ethical institution requiring strong commitment and responsibility. Whereas the aesthete would be bored by the repetitive nature of marriage (e.g. married to one person only), the ethicist believes in the necessity of self-denial (e.g. self-denying unmitigated pleasure) in order to uphold one's obligations.
Interpretation
The extremely nested pseudonymity of this work adds a problem of interpretation. A and B are the authors of the work, Eremita is the editor. Kierkegaard's role in all this appears to be that he deliberately sought to disconnect himself from the points of view expressed in his works, although the absurdity of his pseudonyms' bizarre Latin names proves that he did not hope to thoroughly conceal his identity from the reader. Kierkegaard's ''Papers'' first edition VIII(2), B 81 - 89 explain this method in writing. On interpretation there is also much to be found in the ''On my Work as an Author'' and the ''Point of View''.Kierkegaard, Søren. ''The Point of View'', translated by Howard and Edna Hong, Princeton University Press, ISBN 9780691058559
Existential interpretation
A common interpretation of ''Either/Or'' presents the reader with a choice between two approaches to life. There are no standards or guidelines which indicate how to choose. The reasons for choosing an ethical way of life over the aesthetic only make sense if one is already committed to an ethical way of life. Suggesting the aesthetic approach as evil implies one has already accepted there is a good/evil distinction to be made. Likewise, choosing an aesthetic way of life only appeals to the aesthete, ruling Judge Vilhelm's ethics as inconsequential and preferring the pleasures of seduction. Thus, existentialists see Victor Eremita as presenting a radical choice in which no pre-ordained value can be discerned. One must choose, and through one's choices, one creates what one is.
However, the aesthetic and the ethical ways of life are not the only ways of living. Kierkegaard continues to flesh out other stages in further works, and the ''Stages on Life's Way'' is considered a direct sequel to ''Either/Or''.
Kantian interpretation
A recent way to interpret ''Either/Or'' is to read it as an applied Kantian text. Scholars for this interpretation include Alasdair MacIntyreDavenport, John and Anthony Rudd. ''Kierkegaard After MacIntyre: Essays on Freedom, Narrative, and Virtue''. Open Court Publishing, 2001, ISBN 9780812694390 and Ronald M. Green.Green, Ronald M. ''Kierkegaard and Kant: The Hidden Debt.'' SUNY Press, Albany, 1992. ISBN 0-7914-1108-7 In ''After Virtue'', MacIntyre claims Kierkegaard is continuing the Enlightenment project set forward by Hume and Kant.[8] Green notes several points of contact with Kant in ''Either/Or'':[9]
|  ''Either/Or'' can be seen as endorsing Kantian ethics. |
However, other scholars think Kierkegaard adopts Kantian themes in order to criticize it, and yet others think that while Kierkegaard adopts some Kantian themes, their final ethical positions are substantially different. George Stack argues for this latter interpretation, writing, ''"Despite the occasional echoes of Kantian sentiments in Kierkegaard's writings (especially in ''Either/Or''), the bifurcation between his ethics of self-becoming and Kant's formalistic, meta-empirical ethics is, ''mutatis mutandis'', complete ... Since radical individuation, specificity, inwardness, and the development of subjectivity are central to Kierkegaard's existential ethics, it is clear, essentially, that the spirit and intention of his practical ethics is divorced from the formalism of Kant.''"[10]
Biographical interpretation
Regine was the object of Kierkegaard's affections, much as Cordelia was for Johannes the Seducer.
From a purely literary and historical point of view, ''Either/Or'' can be seen as a thinly veiled autobiography of the events between Kierkegaard and his ex-fianceé Regine Olsen. Johannes the Seducer in ''The Diary of a Seducer'' treats the object of his affection, Cordelia, much as Kierkegaard treats Regine: befriending her family, asking her to marry him, and breaking off the engagement.[11] ''Either/Or'', then, could be the poetic and literary expression of Kierkegaard's decision between a life of sensual pleasure, as he had experienced in his youth, or a possibility of marriage and what social responsibilities marriage might or ought to entail. Ultimately however, ''Either/Or'' stands philosophically independent of its relation to Kierkegaard's life.
Reception
Early reception
''Either/Or'' established Kierkegaard's reputation as a respected author.Garff, Joakim. ''Søren Kierkegaard: A Biography''. Trans. Bruce H. Kirmmse. Princeton, 2005, 0-691-09165-X Henriette Wulff, in a letter to Hans Christian Andersen, wrote, "Recently a book was published here with the title ''Either/Or''! It is supposed to be quite strange, the first part full of Don Juanism, skepticism, et cetera, and the second part toned down and conciliating, ending with a sermon that is said to be quite excellent. The whole book attracted much attention. It has not yet been discussed publicly by anyone, but it surely will be. It is actually supposed to be by a Kierkegaard who has adopted a pseudonym. .."
Johan Ludvig Heiberg, a prominent Hegelian, at first criticized the aesthetic section, ''Either'', especially the section on the "Diary of a Seducer", revolted by the aesthetic's actions, saying, "One looks at the book, and the possibility is established. One closes the book and says, 'Enough!' I have had enough of ''Either'', I will not have any of ''Or''." However, Heiberg read ''Or'', which impressed him, saying of it, "... bolts of intellectual lightning ... a rare and highly gifted intellect who, out of a deep well of speculation, has drawn forth the most beautiful ethical views, [and who] laces his argument with a stream of the most piquant wit and humor."
Later reception
''Either/Or'' was translated into English in 1944; however, several of Kierkegaard's later works had already been translated, making Kierkegaard's first great book, one of the last to be translated for an English reading audience. Frederick DeW. Bolman, Jr., insisted that reviewers consider the book in this way: "In general, we have a right to discover, if we can, the meaning of a work as comprehensive as ''Either/Or'', considering it upon its own merits and not reducing the meaning so as to fit into the author's later perspective. It occurred to me that this was a service to understanding Kierkegaard, whose esthetic and ethical insights have been much slighted by those enamored of his religion of renunciation and transcendence. ... Kierkegaard's brilliance seems to me to be showing that while goodness, truth, and beauty can not speculatively be derived one from another, yet these three are integrally related in the dynamics of a healthy character structure".[12]
Thomas Henry Croxall was impressed by ''A's thoughts on music in the essay, ''The Immediate Stages of the Erotic, or Musical Erotic''. Croxall argues that "the essay should be taken seriously by a musician, because it makes one think, and think hard enough to straighten many of one's ideas; ideas, I mean, not only on art, but on life" and goes on to discuss the psychological, existential, and musical value of the work.[13]
The ''Diary of a Seducer'' by itself, is a provocative novella, and has been reproduced separately from ''Either/Or'' several times.[14][15][16]Published in August 1997 by Princeton, with an introduction by John Updike, ISBN 9780691017372 John Updike said of the ''Diary'', "In the vast literature of love, ''The Seducer's Diary'' is an intricate curiosity – a feverishly intellectual attempt to reconstruct an erotic failure as a pedagogic success, a wound masked as a boast".
In contemporary times, ''Either/Or'' received new life as a grand philosophical work with the publication of Alasdair MacIntyre's ''After Virtue'', where MacIntyre situates ''Either/Or'' as an attempt to capture the Enlightenment spirit set forth by David Hume and Immanuel Kant. ''After Virtue'' renewed ''Either/Or'' as an important ethical text in the Kantian vein, as mentioned previously. Although MacIntyre accuses Victor Eremita of failing to provide a criteria for one to adopt an ethical way of life, many scholars have since replied to MacIntyre's accusation in ''Kierkegaard After MacIntyre''.[17]
References
Primary references
★ ''Either/Or: A Fragment of Life''. Translated by Alastair Hannay, Abridged Version. Penguin, 1992, ISBN 9780140445770 (Hannay)
★ ''Either/Or''. Translated by David F. Swenson and Lillian Marvin Swenson. Volume I. Prinecton, 1959, ISBN 0691019762 (Swenson)
★ ''Kierkegaard's Writings, III, Part I: Either/Or. Part I''. Translated by Howard and Edna Hong. Princeton, 1988, ISBN 9780691020419 (Hong)
★ ''Kierkegaard's Writings, IV, Part II: Either/Or. Part II''. Translated by Howard and Edna Hong. Princeton, 1988, ISBN 9780691020426 (Hong)
Secondary references and notes
1. Hegel's Science of Logic
2. ''From this it is evident that the law of identity itself, and still more the law of contradiction, is not merely of analytic but of synthetic nature. For the latter contains in its expression not merely empty, simple equality-with-self, and not merely the other of this in general, but, what is more, absolute inequality, contradiction per se. But as has been shown, the law of identity itself contains the movement of reflection, identity as a vanishing of otherness. What emerges from this consideration is, therefore, first, that the law of identity or of contradiction which purports to express merely abstract identity in contrast to difference as a truth, is not a law of thought, but rather the opposite of it; secondly, that these laws contain more than is meant by them, to wit, this opposite, absolute difference itself.'' Hegel's Remarks § 883 & 884
3. ''The law of the excluded middle is also distinguished from the laws of identity and contradiction ... the latter of these asserted that there is nothing that is at once A and not-A. It implies that there is nothing that is neither A nor not-A, that there is not a third that is indifferent to the opposition. But in fact the third that is indifferent to the opposition is given in the law itself, namely, A itself is present in it. This A is neither +A nor -A, and is equally well +A as -A. The something that was supposed to be either -A or not A is therefore related to both +A and not-A; and again, in being related to A, it is supposed not to be related to not-A, nor to A, if it is related to not-A. The something itself, therefore, is the third which was supposed to be excluded. Since the opposite determinations in the something are just as much posited as sublated in this positing, the third which has here the form of a dead something, when taken more profoundly, is the unity of reflection into which the opposition withdraws as into ground.'' Hegel's Remarks § 952 - 954
4. Oden, Thomas C. ''Parables of Kierkegaard''. Princeton University Press, ISBN 9780691020532.
5. Kierkegaard, Søren. ''Samlede Vaerker''. (2), II, p. 190. 1962-1964.
6. Collected by Princeton University Press in ''Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses''
7. D. Anthony on Who is the Author?
8. Kierkegaard is familiar with Hume through the works of Johann Georg Hamann. See "Hume and Kierkegaard" by Richard Popkin.
9. Green, p. 95-98
10. Green, p.87
11. Dr. Scott Moore's Summary of the Diary
12. Reply to Mrs. Hess, ''Journal of Philosophy'', Vol. 42, No.8, p. 219
13. A Strange but Stimulating Essay on Music, ''The Musical Times'' Vol. 90, No. 1272, p.46, February 1949
14. Published in 2006, with Gerd Aage Gillhoff as translator, ISBN 9780826418470
15. Published in June 1966 by Ungar Pub Co., ISBN 9780804463577
16. Published in March 1999, by Pushpin Press, translated by Alastair Hannay, ISBN 9781901285239
17. After Anti-Irrationalism
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