Stages of life

The book opens with a preface written in the name of Hilari the Binder. A certain writer sent Hilaria a significant number of books for binding, but his work dragged on for so long that at that time the writer was overtaken by death. Then the bookbinder decided to postpone work on the rest of the papers for the future. Since the writer never required the manuscripts back, Hilary concluded that they did not represent particularly great value, and the work could be postponed. Later, during the long winter evenings, Hilary again took up the manuscripts, but found that he did not understand most of them. After some time, one of his acquaintances, a Ph.D. who had a great interest in books, took from him these works to his home. Three days later he returned to great enthusiasm, and ardently urged Hilaria to publish this book. So ends the preface, followed by several parts of the book, written on behalf of different people.

The book is quite clearly divided into parts. The first of these, entitled “ In vino veritas ” ( Latin for truth in wine), describes in detail and somewhat ornately dinner, “feast”, the participants of which represent various types of aesthetic world outlook. This part is presented as the memories of Wilhelm Afham.

There were five participants: Johannes, nicknamed Deceiver, Victor Eremita, Konstantin Constantius, and two others, whose names I didn’t forget, but didn’t hear them; Yes, in general, it has little value. Everything happened as if they did not have their own names, but appealed to them conditionally; so, one of them was always called a "young man." He was not more than twenty years old, he was slim and thin, and with a very dark complexion. (...) Another was called by profession - a fashion designer. About him it was difficult to make a definite impression. He was dressed in the latest fashion, richly, and was perfumed with cologne.

- [1]

Some of those present, in addition, may be identified with pseudonyms, under which Kierkegaard previously published some works (Konstantin Constantius, Victor Eremita), so that someone could offer a more complex interpretation. In this part, the allusion to Plato's “ Pir ” dialogue is obvious, and it means that every participant in this dialogue should make a speech, and the topic of conversation should be love .

"Pir" opens with a greeting Victor Eremit; and when it is already over, Constantine proposes raising the theme of the relationship between a man and a woman. After this, there is a long conversation in which everyone expresses his point of view; everyone has some beliefs, but all of them are opposed to marriage one way or another. This distinguishes the first, “aesthetic” part of the book from the next, “ethical”. Nevertheless, each participant in the conversation eventually comes to disappointment. An inexperienced young man, for example, believes that love simply deprives a person of peace, causing anxiety and suffering. For the Seducer, love is a game that must be won, and the fashion designer believes that this is just a “style”, devoid of real meaning, which he has the ability to control, just like any other style. Victor Eremita begins his speech by thanking fate, that he is a man, not a woman; and he concludes that if a girl could be a source of inspiration, marriage will become an immersion in the routine and lead to disappointment.

The second part is written on behalf of a certain assessor Wilhelm, and is entitled "Some arguments in defense of marriage." Wilhelm's beliefs are solid and serious; he cites arguments that justify the value of marriage, and ethics is the starting point for his worldview. He says that a person must introduce such an element into marriage as responsibility, and sympathy and responsibility can make family life spiritually richer. Marriage changes the relationship between a man and a woman; they thus embody their universal purpose. Therefore, this section “refutes” the arguments put forward in “In vino veritas”.

However, Wilhelm notes that, perhaps, in some cases there may be an exception, and a person may refuse to marry. This reflects the life of Kierkegaard himself, who concluded that he should not marry. And this “exception” is understood in the third part of the work.

The third section of the book is larger than the first or second. It contains the text of a manuscript previously discovered by the narrator. The manuscript is a diary of a young man who describes his relationship with a certain girl and talks about breaking up with her. This text alternates earlier entries and reflections made a year later. Often there was a similarity with the life situation of Kierkegaard, who experienced a break with Regina Olsen , but it is not entirely clear how we should understand the relationship between the personality of this young man and Kierkegaard himself, whether they completely repeat each other. In any case, this section apparently does not differ much from the first or the second in terms of ideological orientation, because the author of the diary has not yet fully switched to the religious stage, but is only looking for it. The diary describes the courtship, and the constant reflection of the narrator, who notes the peculiarities of the relationship with this girl; but ultimately he comes to the conclusion that their natures are too different, and he decides to break off the relationship, becoming the “exception” mentioned in the previous section. Is this person worried, does he have the moral right to leave her? - in this regard, the diary is the title: “Guilty? “Not guilty?”

The book ends with the “Psychological Experiment of Brother Taciturnia” (taciturnus - Latin. Quiet), a kind of investigation of the nature of passion ^[1] .

The book has not yet been translated into Russian.

Article in "Britannica"