Customer Reviews

The Two Ages : Kierkegaard's Writings, Vol 14

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What begins as a critique of Gyllembourg's "Two Ages" developes into Kierkegaard's most powerful examination of the confrontation between individuality and society. Chapter Three is, as far as I know, THE definitive existentialist manifesto of human individuality and its constant battle against being swallowed up by the mindlessness of modern culture. In a critique that is especially applicable in today's culture of mass media, body-babble and relationship-babble, Kierkegaard shows how conscious individuality is drained out of the individual by chatter and leveling. When the innermost private matters of the individual become public, then individuality loses its meaning, human consciousness collpases, and we have "the present age... relaxing in indolence." This is nowhere more clearly seen that in the present-day "talk shows", where the innermost private matters of the individual are bared for public consumption with all the tact of a street corner flasher. Kierkegaard's analysis, over 150 years old, is more relevant than ever in today's culture. If you are sick of hearing about "relationships", this book is a must. It is worth every penny, and may well be the most important book you will ever read.

The much lessexpensive paperback edition has a slightly different title and so may not have been linked on this page (also, the paperback came out in 2009, 21 years after the hardcover came out.

Kierkegaard's Writings, XIV: Two Ages: "The Age of Revolution" and the "Present Age" A Literary Review (Paperback)

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