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Either/Or: A Fragment of Life
Either/ A Fragment of Life (Classics) by Søren Kierkegaard is a profound philosophical work that explores the nature of choice, commitment, and the complexities of human existence. Presented in the form of a fictional journal, the book contrasts two life the aesthetic, which seeks pleasure and freedom without commitment, and the ethical, which emphasizes responsibility, duty, and long-term goals. Through the voices of two narrators, Kierkegaard delves into existential questions about love, morality, and the individual's search for meaning. Either/Or challenges readers to confront their own values and decisions, making it a landmark text in existential philosophy and a foundational work in understanding the human condition.
641 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 29, 2024
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May 22, 2026
Hey, look, philosophy is not really my thing, so don’t expect a deep review this time around. But I do enjoy Nietzsche so I thought I would check out Kierkegaard as well, seeing as they are both existentialists. When I was a teenager I tried to get through *Fear and Trembling* but it was too difficult for my young mind. When I decided to tackle Kierkegaard years later I decided to start with *Fear and Trembling*.
Maybe I should have started with *Either/Or*? I did find it to be easier going than *Fear and Trembling*. Google agrees: "Either/Or is significantly more approachable and easier to read for beginners than Fear and Trembling." The tradeoff is that you are not going to get as sharp of a picture of Kierkegaard's philosophy in *Either/Or* as you are going to get in *Fear and Trembling*. It is true that themes which appear in *Fear and Trembling* and *Sickness Unto Death* (especially despair) appear in *Either/Or* but they are not explored nearly to the depth that they are in Kierkegaard's other books (at least the 2 Kierkegaard books I have read).
*Either/Or* exists in two volumes. I didn’t realize this when I reserved it from my local library and they sent me volume 2. I started to read it and realized it was a pretty crappy translation (David F. Swenson and Lillian Marvin Swenson 1959). The only other copy they had was an abridged translation and I decided I wanted the unabridged. So I purchased the Grapevine India translation, not realizing it is abridged translation as well! The abridgment and translation was done by Alastair Hannay, and it was very well done. But if you want the abridgment, get the Penguin edition, not the Grapevine. The Grapevine edition lacks the endnotes, even though they are marked in the text. What is the point of marking and endnote in the text if you are not going to include the note? I really need to pay more attention next time to which edition I am buying. I am going to read *Either/Or* again, but the next time it will be the unabridged version by Howard and Edna Hong.
The structure of the book is interesting. It starts with several pages of aphorisms. It is unclear to me how these are connected with the rest of volume 1, if indeed they are even meant to be connected. Could these be the inspiration for Nietzsche’s aphorisms in *Beyond Good and Evil*? My favorite aphorism was, "I divide my time thus: half the time I sleep, the other half I dream. When I sleep I never dream; that would be a pity, for sleeping is the height of genius," but certainly the best known one is, "A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it's a joke."
The aphorisms are followed by an essay on music. This centered largely on Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, which the fictive author declares is the greatest piece of music, never to be surpassed. Is this also Kierkegaard's view as well? Having never seen Don Giovanni (except for the final scene when he gets dragged to hell) I am in no position to say whether it is the greatest piece of music ever written (I suspect not). As a part of my Kierkegaard project, I will watch this opera before reading the unabridged *Either/Or*. It is available on YouTube (2:54:23, yikes!)
The essay on music was followed by an essay on Greek tragedy. This centered largely on Antigone. I was more familiar with Antigone but I haven’t read it all the way through.
Next were a series of essays to the Symparanekromenoi. I would have guessed that this meant those who are neighbors of the dead or those who are near death but one philosophy site gives the definition as society of those who are living lives which are spiritually or mentally entombed and isolated. For me these essays were the most enjoyable of volume 1. I certainly enjoyed them more than what followed, which was the diary of a seducer.
The translator noted that he omitted one whole section of volume 1: "First Love, Comedy in One Act by Scribe, translated by J. L. Heiberg." This is why I need to read the unabridged version, because in volume 2, Judge Wilhelm makes many references back to this section. I’m sure that there were many back-references in volume 2 to volume 1 that I didn’t catch. A couple that I did catch were that one could not blame Nero for setting fire to Rome, and the unhappiest is the happiest. If memory serves these were in the essays written to the Symparanekromenoi.
Generally speaking, I enjoyed volume 2 better than volume 1. There was more philosophizing in volume 2. Volume 2 is a critique the aesthetic ideals of A, the author of volume 1. Hence the first to sections of volume 2 are "The Aesthetic Validity of Marriage" and "Equilibrium Between the Aesthetic." B (Judge Wilhelm), the fictional author of volume 2, represents the ethical ideal as over and above the aesthetic ideal of A. Criticizing A's idea of the first love (which was edited out in my abridged version), B says that the first love remains an unrealized An-sich. This was footnoted but since my edition did not include the footnotes, I had to Google this. An-sich is German for "in itself." B is saying that it is the ethical individual who can self-realize, not the aesthetic individual. So, "The person who will not fight with reality [the aesthete] gets phantoms to contend with," and, "Only by choosing absolutely can one choose the ethical."
The difference for Kierkegaard between choosing absolutely and choosing relatively was unclear to me so I had to Google it. "For Søren Kierkegaard, choosing relatively means making decisions based on finite, worldly desires or external circumstances (like career success or pleasure), which always leads to regret. Choosing absolutely means committing unconditionally to an eternal, internal moral or spiritual good, which defines your true self and provides objective meaning."
My original plan was to read *Either/Or* twice (the abridged version is short enough) and then reread *Fear and Trembling* and *Sickness Unto Death*, but when I realized that what I had was the abridged version, my plans changed. Since the unabridged version of *Either/Or* is a bigger monetary investment that I had expected, this plan has been put on the back burner. In the meantime I ordered *Works of Love* (it was 52% off) which I expect I will read before getting started on *Either/Or* again.
Maybe I should have started with *Either/Or*? I did find it to be easier going than *Fear and Trembling*. Google agrees: "Either/Or is significantly more approachable and easier to read for beginners than Fear and Trembling." The tradeoff is that you are not going to get as sharp of a picture of Kierkegaard's philosophy in *Either/Or* as you are going to get in *Fear and Trembling*. It is true that themes which appear in *Fear and Trembling* and *Sickness Unto Death* (especially despair) appear in *Either/Or* but they are not explored nearly to the depth that they are in Kierkegaard's other books (at least the 2 Kierkegaard books I have read).
*Either/Or* exists in two volumes. I didn’t realize this when I reserved it from my local library and they sent me volume 2. I started to read it and realized it was a pretty crappy translation (David F. Swenson and Lillian Marvin Swenson 1959). The only other copy they had was an abridged translation and I decided I wanted the unabridged. So I purchased the Grapevine India translation, not realizing it is abridged translation as well! The abridgment and translation was done by Alastair Hannay, and it was very well done. But if you want the abridgment, get the Penguin edition, not the Grapevine. The Grapevine edition lacks the endnotes, even though they are marked in the text. What is the point of marking and endnote in the text if you are not going to include the note? I really need to pay more attention next time to which edition I am buying. I am going to read *Either/Or* again, but the next time it will be the unabridged version by Howard and Edna Hong.
The structure of the book is interesting. It starts with several pages of aphorisms. It is unclear to me how these are connected with the rest of volume 1, if indeed they are even meant to be connected. Could these be the inspiration for Nietzsche’s aphorisms in *Beyond Good and Evil*? My favorite aphorism was, "I divide my time thus: half the time I sleep, the other half I dream. When I sleep I never dream; that would be a pity, for sleeping is the height of genius," but certainly the best known one is, "A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it's a joke."
The aphorisms are followed by an essay on music. This centered largely on Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, which the fictive author declares is the greatest piece of music, never to be surpassed. Is this also Kierkegaard's view as well? Having never seen Don Giovanni (except for the final scene when he gets dragged to hell) I am in no position to say whether it is the greatest piece of music ever written (I suspect not). As a part of my Kierkegaard project, I will watch this opera before reading the unabridged *Either/Or*. It is available on YouTube (2:54:23, yikes!)
The essay on music was followed by an essay on Greek tragedy. This centered largely on Antigone. I was more familiar with Antigone but I haven’t read it all the way through.
Next were a series of essays to the Symparanekromenoi. I would have guessed that this meant those who are neighbors of the dead or those who are near death but one philosophy site gives the definition as society of those who are living lives which are spiritually or mentally entombed and isolated. For me these essays were the most enjoyable of volume 1. I certainly enjoyed them more than what followed, which was the diary of a seducer.
The translator noted that he omitted one whole section of volume 1: "First Love, Comedy in One Act by Scribe, translated by J. L. Heiberg." This is why I need to read the unabridged version, because in volume 2, Judge Wilhelm makes many references back to this section. I’m sure that there were many back-references in volume 2 to volume 1 that I didn’t catch. A couple that I did catch were that one could not blame Nero for setting fire to Rome, and the unhappiest is the happiest. If memory serves these were in the essays written to the Symparanekromenoi.
Generally speaking, I enjoyed volume 2 better than volume 1. There was more philosophizing in volume 2. Volume 2 is a critique the aesthetic ideals of A, the author of volume 1. Hence the first to sections of volume 2 are "The Aesthetic Validity of Marriage" and "Equilibrium Between the Aesthetic." B (Judge Wilhelm), the fictional author of volume 2, represents the ethical ideal as over and above the aesthetic ideal of A. Criticizing A's idea of the first love (which was edited out in my abridged version), B says that the first love remains an unrealized An-sich. This was footnoted but since my edition did not include the footnotes, I had to Google this. An-sich is German for "in itself." B is saying that it is the ethical individual who can self-realize, not the aesthetic individual. So, "The person who will not fight with reality [the aesthete] gets phantoms to contend with," and, "Only by choosing absolutely can one choose the ethical."
The difference for Kierkegaard between choosing absolutely and choosing relatively was unclear to me so I had to Google it. "For Søren Kierkegaard, choosing relatively means making decisions based on finite, worldly desires or external circumstances (like career success or pleasure), which always leads to regret. Choosing absolutely means committing unconditionally to an eternal, internal moral or spiritual good, which defines your true self and provides objective meaning."
My original plan was to read *Either/Or* twice (the abridged version is short enough) and then reread *Fear and Trembling* and *Sickness Unto Death*, but when I realized that what I had was the abridged version, my plans changed. Since the unabridged version of *Either/Or* is a bigger monetary investment that I had expected, this plan has been put on the back burner. In the meantime I ordered *Works of Love* (it was 52% off) which I expect I will read before getting started on *Either/Or* again.
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