''Stages on Life's Way'' (; historical orthography: ''Stadier paa Livets Vej'') is a philosophical work by

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...

written in 1845. The book was written as a continuation of Kierkegaard's prior work '' Either/Or''. While ''Either/Or'' is about the

aesthetic Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...

and

ethical Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied e ...

realms, ''Stages'' continues considers the religious. Kierkegaard's "concern was to present the various stages of existence in one work if possible". Kierkegaard was influenced by both Christian Wolff and

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

to the point of using the structure and philosophical content of the

three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

special metaphysics Christian Wolff (; less correctly Wolf, ; also known as Wolfius; ennobled as Christian Freiherr von Wolff in 1745; 24 January 1679 – 9 April 1754) was a German philosopher. Wolff is characterized as one of the most eminent German philosophers ...

as the scheme or blueprint for building the ideas for this book. David F. Swenson cited this book when discussing Kierkegaard's melancholy, which was corroborated by Kierkegaard's older brother

Peter Kierkegaard Peter Christian Kierkegaard (; 6 July 1805 – 24 February 1888), was a Danish theologian, politician and Bishop of Diocese of Aalborg from 1857 until 1875.P.C. Kierkegaard. ''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'' Retrieved November 1, 2020 Early life ...

, though he could have been writing about

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

Criticism

Georg Brandes Georg Morris Cohen Brandes (4 February 1842 – 19 February 1927) was a Danish critic and scholar who greatly influenced Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind ...

is credited with introducing Kierkegaard to the reading public with his 1879 biography about him; he also wrote an analysis of the works of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

and

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished ...

in which he made many comparisons between their works and Kierkegaard's. He considered ''Stages on Life's Way'' in relation to '' Either/Or'' and the works of Ibsen: Julia Watkin says the bulk of ''Stages'' was composed between September 1844 and March 1845. And that Quidam's diary is the counterpart of the seducer's diary. Walter Lowrie notes that Kierkegaard wrote a "repetition of ''Either/Or''" because it stopped with the

. In 1988 Mary Elizabeth Moore discusses Kierkegaard's method of indirect communication in this book.

References

External links

''In Vino Veritas'', The Banquet
Part 1 of ''Stages on Life's Way''
Stages on Life's Way
audio from Librivox
''Stages on Life’s Way''
in ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

''
D. ''Anthony Storm's Commentary on Stages on Life's Way''

''Soren Kierkegaard, A Study of the third section of his Stadia Upon Life's Way'', by Reverend Alexander Grieve
''The Expository times''. v.19 1907/1908 Oct-Sep
Original text in Danish
at sks.dk {{DEFAULTSORT:Stages On Life's Way 1845 books 19th-century Danish novels Books by Søren Kierkegaard Philosophical novels Works published under a pseudonym