In his book Either/Or, Søren Kierkegaard explores aesthetic perception of the life. In his opinion, such a worldview has several distinctions, but the most important ones are self-reflection and the ability to distance oneself from others. A person, who looks at life from this perspective, does not attempt to pass a moral judgment. Instead he or she is more interested in seeing the logical inconsistencies of life and the paradoxes of people’s behavior.
Moreover, this individual derives enjoyment not from actual experiences, but from imagining these experiences. Søren Kierkegaard shows that that purely aesthetic life can be appealing, but it eventfully results in discontent and boredom. These are the most important ideas that should be discussed.
It should be noted that Kierkegaard structured his book as a serious of memoirs and essays written by anonymous people. At the beginning, the speaker opens the discussion by arguing that a poet is a disenchanted and unhappy person who is able to express his feelings and ideas in a beautiful form. Similarly, an esthete is also dissatisfied with life, because this individual has to seek new experiences in order to struggle with boredom.
In fact, the author describes boredom as the main enemy of an esthete. However, one should bear in mind that aesthetic life cannot be reduced to mere saturation of the senses. More likely, an esthete enjoys the idea of new experiences. For example, the speaker argues that if he could have asked for the most delicious wine, he would have rejected this offer. The mere idea of drinking this wine can be more pleasant than drinking, itself.
Furthermore, in The Seducer’s Diary Kierkegaard shows that a person’s enjoyment does not come only from the sex, but from the act of seduction, itself. Overall, aesthetic worldview implies that a person should rely more on imagination, rather than physical experiences because the world of imagination is much richer than reality.
Additionally, irony is an inherent part of aesthetic worldview. Kierkegaard argues that an esthete would prefer the ability to laugh to many other things such as long life, beauty, or youth. The thing is that such a person derives enjoyment from seeing the difference between human desires and the reality.
This is how he or she can overcome boredom. This irony does not necessarily involve moral evaluation; mere observation of life’s paradoxes is sufficient for a person with an aesthetic worldview.
Yet, this individual eventually comes to the point when there is nothing new to him or her. This lack of new sensations leads to the feeling of emptiness and perpetual discontent. Kierkegaard points to this idea at the very beginning, when the speaker mentions the sterility of his soul. Thus, the author warns the readers about the drawbacks of purely aesthetic life.
On the whole, one should not assume that Søren Kierkegaard is altogether critical of aesthetic worldview. Some of its elements may be acceptable to him, especially irony and self-reflection.
Nevertheless, this philosopher suggests that it is not sufficient for fulfilling life, because sooner or later an esthete will eventually have to face the reality and admit that one cannot always distance oneself from others. Thus, Kierkegaard’s book prompts the readers to the conclusion that aesthetic life should be supplemented something else, in particular, ethical evaluation of people’s actions.