Either/Or, Part II

Soren Kierkegaard, the nineteenth-century Danish philosopher rediscovered in the twentieth century, is a major influence in contemporary philosophy, religion, and literature. He regarded Either/Or as the beginning of his authorship, although he had published two earlier works on Hans Christian Andersen and irony. The pseudonymous volumes of Either/Or are the writings of a young man (I) and of Judge William (II). The ironical young man's papers include a collection of sardonic aphorisms; essays on Mozart, modern drama, and boredom; and "e;The Seducer's Diary."e; The seeming miscellany is a reflective presentation of aspects of the "e;either,"e; the esthetic view of life. Part II is an older friend's "e;or,"e; the ethical life of integrated, authentic personhood, elaborated in discussions of personal becoming and of marriage. The resolution of the "e;either/or"e; is left to the reader, for there is no Part III until the appearance of Stages on Life's Way. The poetic-reflective creations of a master stylist and imaginative impersonator, the two men write in distinctive ways appropriate to their respective positions.