Two Ages: A Literary Review

Two Ages: A Literary Review (Danish: En literair Anmeldelse af S. Kierkegaard) is the first book in Søren Kierkegaard's second authorship and was published on March 30, 1846. The work followed The Corsair affair in which he was the target of public ridicule and consequently displays his thought on "the public" and an individual's relationship to it.

The book was a critique of the novel Two Ages (in some translations Two Generations) written by Thomasine Christine Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd and discussed "The Age of Revolution" and "The Present Age". Kierkegaard characterized the Age of Revolution as "essentially passionate; therefore it has 'not nullified the principle of contradiction' and can become either good or evil, and whichever way is chosen, the 'impetus' of passion is such that the trace of an action marking its progress or its taking a wrong direction must be perceptible. It is obliged to make a decision, but this again is the saving factor, for decision is the little magic word that existence respects".^[1]

After giving his critique of the story, Kierkegaard made several observations on the nature of The Present Age and its passionless attitude towards life. Kierkegaard wrote that "the present age is essentially a sensible age, devoid of passion"^[2] and that "[t]he trend today is in the direction of mathematical equality, so that in all classes about so and so many uniformly make one individual".^[3] In this, Kierkegaard attacks the conformity and assimilation of individuals into an indifferent and abstract public, "the crowd".^[4] Although Kierkegaard attacked the public, he was supportive of communities where individuals keep their diversity and uniqueness. Another element of The Present Age is that it is marked by indecisive deliberation ("reflection") and contemplating ("reflexion") the decay of the age in one's inner thoughts.

Not until the single individual has established an ethical stance despite the whole world, not until then can there be any question of genuinely uniting; otherwise it gets to be a union of people who separately are weak, a union as unbeautiful and depraved as a child-marriage.... When the mouth blathers pure drivel, it is futile to try to deliver a coherent discourse; it is better to consider each word by itself-and so it is with the situation of individuals.
— Søren Kierkegaard, Two Ages: A Literary Review in Essential Kierkegaard, in: The Essential Kierkegaard, 2000, p. 267

Notes

↑ Hong, Howard V. and Edna Hong, The Essential Kierkegaard, Princeton University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-691-01940-1
↑ Kierkegaard, Søren (ed. by Howard V. and Edna H. Hong), Two Ages: The Age of Revolution and the Present Age, a Literary Review, Princeton University Press, 1978, p. 97.
↑ Kierkegaard, Søren (ed. by Howard V. and Edna H. Hong), Two Ages: The Age of Revolution and the Present Age, a Literary Review, Princeton University Press, 1978, p. 85.
↑ Kierkegaard, Søren. A Literary Review, Penguin Classics, 2001, ISBN 0-14-044801-2

Søren Kierkegaard

1841–1846	On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates Either/Or De omnibus dubitandum est: Everything Must Be Doubted Two Upbuilding Discourses, 1843 Repetition Three Upbuilding Discourses, 1843 Fear and Trembling Four Upbuilding Discourses, 1843 Sermon Preached at Trinity Church, 1844 Two Upbuilding Discourses, 1844 Three Upbuilding Discourses, 1844 Philosophical Fragments Prefaces The Concept of Anxiety Four Upbuilding Discourses, 1844 Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions Stages on Life's Way Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments Two Ages: A Literary Review

1847–1854	Edifying Discourses in Diverse Spirits Works of Love Christian Discourses The Crisis and a Crisis in the Life of an Actress The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air Two Minor Ethical-Religious Essays The Sickness Unto Death Three Discourses at the Communion on Fridays Practice in Christianity Two Discourses at the Communion on Fridays The Book on Adler For Self-Examination Attack Upon Christendom

Posthumous	The Point of View of My Work as an Author Judge for Yourselves! The Journals Writing Sampler

Ideas	Philosophy Theology Angst Anguish Authenticity Double-mindedness Indirect communication Infinite qualitative distinction Knight of faith Leap to faith Levelling Present age Ressentiment Rotation method Thorn in the flesh Despair

Related topics	Works about Kierkegaard Regine Olsen Peter Kierkegaard Hans Lassen Martensen Jacob Peter Mynster J. L. Heiberg Thomasine Christine Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd Adolph Peter Adler Influence and reception of Søren Kierkegaard Danish Golden Age Søren Kierkegaard Research Center Howard V. and Edna H. Hong Kierkegaard Library Prayers of Kierkegaard

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