Either/Or

Kierkegaard (1813-55) was born in Copenhagen, the youngest of seven children. His childhood was unhappy, clouded by the religious fervour of his father, and the death of his mother, his sisters and two brothers. Educated at the School of Civic Virtue, he went on study theology, liberal arts and science at university, gaining a reputation for his academic brilliance and extravagant social life. He began to criticize Christianity, and in 1841 broke off his engagement to concentrate on his writing. Over the next ten years he produced a flood of works, in particular twelve major philosophical essays, many written under noms de plume. By the end of his life he had become an object of public ridicule, but he is now enjoying increasing acclaim.Alastair Hannay was educated at the Edinburgh Academy, the University of Edinburgh and University College London. In 1961 he became a resident of Norway and is now Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oslo.

• Either/Or Translator's NoteIntroductionPart One: Containing the Papers of APreface1. Diapsalmata2. The Immediate Erotic Stages or the Musical Erotic3. Ancient Tragedy's Reflection in the Modern4. Shadowgraphs5. The Unhappiest One6. Crop Rotation7. The Seducer's DiaryPart Two: Containing the Papers of B: Letters to A1. The Aesthetic Validity of Marriage2. Equilibrium between the Aesthetic and the Ethical in the Development of Personality3. Last Word4. The Edifying in the Thought that Against God We Are Always in the WrongNotes