Søren Kierkegaard has first published Either/Or in 1843 under the pseudonym of Victor Eremita after claiming to having found the manuscript hiding in an ancient piece of furniture. It is supposed to be written by two different people, seemingly friends with unknown names, the first one being “A” a seducer and the other one “B”, married man. In this book, Kierkegaard develops the theory of the mind, opposing the aesthetic phase in Either, to the ethical one in Or. He will subsequently be considered one of the first existentialist philosophers in the world.
Publishing anonymously wasn’t a first for Kierkegaard. In fact, he has adopted an alias to publish multiple times after Either/Or. He later explains in Concluding Unscientific Postscript, one of his major works, that the choice of pseudonym is more of an artistic one, granting him creative liberty when it comes to writing under a fictional character who has his own views and his own psychology. This way, he can expose different concepts and different visions, developing and opposing various approaches. Furthermore, he used this method to distance himself from his works as to give to each one of them its own philosophical platform.
There are two alternate voices in Either/Or, none of them have a face or name in the beginning. “A” is a man who lives to seduce, profoundly nihilistic, he lives his life through an aesthetic conception which leaves no room to morals. “A” doesn’t deny the ethical part of life, he simply chooses not to abide by it. “B” is a judge, as it is later revealed in the book. He rebuts A’s way of life, his aesthetics, his seduction, his doubt, his contradiction. “B” values center around ethics, marriage, freedom and faith. “B” claims in his letter that A’s choice to live an aesthetic life is, in reality, a non-choice. For him, to lead an ethical life is to make the choice to live in one’s duty. In a way, it contains more beauty and freedom to make that choice. Consequently, leading an aesthetic life could only lead to boredom and despair.
There could be two ways to read this book. The traditional way, starting with the first part where “A” expresses his point of view on the aesthetic vision of life, then proceeding to the second part where “B” addresses to long letters to “A” with an adverse point of view that leans towards an ethical vision of life. Or, it could be read by jumping from part to part alternately, which can provide an in-depth examination of what Kierkegaard did with these two voices and how opposed they are to each other. In conclusion, Either/Or is a true dual masterpiece that brilliantly explores two major conflicts that are still relevant to this day.
