Kierkegaard's Aesthetic Theory: Pleasure and the Stages of Life

This essay delves into Søren Kierkegaard's aesthetic theory, a concept central to his existentialist philosophy. It examines how Kierkegaard defines the aesthetic life as one driven by the pursuit of pleasure and beauty, and how individuals in this stage seek to maximize these experiences. The essay further discusses Kierkegaard's view on the fleeting nature of aesthetic pleasure and the importance of transitioning to ethical considerations to address issues like anxiety and boredom. By exploring the stages of life, the paper highlights Kierkegaard's perspective on personal development and the limitations of a purely aesthetic existence, suggesting a need to move beyond immediate gratification towards a more meaningful and ethically grounded life.

Running head: KIERKEGAARD’S AESTHETIC THEORY
KIERKEGAARD’S AESTHETIC THEORY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1KIERKEGAARD’S AESTHETIC THEORY
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard is an eminent Danish philosopher who is majorly known as
the “father of existentialism”. The eminent theologian, poet and philosopher is known for the
theories that he presents on the various ethics in the religious studies of Christianity, the very
existence of the church, the various differences that exist among the objective proofs that exist
within the religion of Christianity (Lowrie, 2013). The following essay deals with the theme of
an aesthetic life as put forth by the esteemed philosopher.
Aesthetics generally refers to the study of the emotions and the mind of the concerned
person as related to the sense of beauty that is contained within the mind of the concerned
individual. The aesthetics might also refer to the various sensations and pure emotion in
opposition to the pure intellectuality of the concerned individual (Storsletten & Jakobsen, 2015).
The philosopher opines that the life of the individual is generally defined by the manners that are
related to the perceptions of the concerned individuals. The philosopher further opines that the
individuals do live for their ownselves. The individuals seek out for the various experiences of
pleasures and the beauty within the lives of the concerned individual (Hannay, 2013). The
concerned philosopher is also known to have been writing under the various pseudonyms that
have not been in accordance to the philosophies as propagated by the concerned Danish
philosopher.
The Danish philosopher aims to have discussed various themes within the works that are
put forth by the concerned philosopher. The concerned philosopher is known for the ingraining
of the themes of alienation within the concept of the self as proposed by the eminent Danish
philosopher (Miles, 2013). The aestheticism is explained by the concerned philosopher to be
helpful in the correction of the major problems as posed by the major problems of the human
psyche like anxiety, boredom and despair. The philosopher discusses the fact that the concerned

2KIERKEGAARD’S AESTHETIC THEORY
problems of the human psyche might affect the mental health of the concerned individual in
various manners and might find solace in the sense of the aesthetics and the beauty that is
contained within the psyche of the person.
The celebrated Danish philosopher states that the concerned individual is known for
having been passing through the three stages of life while taking on the journey towards
becoming the best version of his own self. The first among the concerned three stages in the life
of the individual is the stage of the aesthetics (Senyshyn, 2013). The eminent philosopher is
known to have been describing the stages through the example of the pseudonymous characters
as put forth by the concerned philosopher. The aesthetic life as put forth by the concerned
celebrated philosopher is defined by the pleasures that are put forth within the lives of the
concerned individuals. The philosopher further states that the concerned individuals might need
to seek for the maximization of the pleasures in order to lead the life that is in complete
accompliance with the aesthetics that are sought by the concerned individual.
Kierkegaard further opines that the anticipation of the concerned upcoming event is often
observed to have exceeded the pleasure that is derived from the concerned activity in discussion.
Thus, the philosopher is observed to have been proposing the fact that the concerned individual
should aim to derive or draw anticipation from the concerned activity that might aim to provide
the individual with the needed pleasure on completion of the given activity. The philosopher
opines that though there has been an acknowledgement of the aesthetics, it is generally observed
to have been immature in the presentation of the same. The aesthete, as opined by the concerned
philosopher, draws upon the individual enjoyment of the concerned person. The aesthete might
not have some solid base that would help the person to put forth consistent and coherent choices
due to the fact that the pleasure that is derived from aesthetics is considered to be very fleeting in

3KIERKEGAARD’S AESTHETIC THEORY
nature (Obinyan, 2014). The philosopher opines that the concerned individual must need to seek
out for the ethical pleasures in order to deal with the eventual thinning of the pleasures that are
derived from those that pertain to the aesthetics.
Thus, from the above discussion it might be concluded that the aesthetics as proposed by
Kierkegaard, is helpful in the matters that deal with the derivation of the pleasure from the given
activities that pertain to the aesthetics of the concerned activity. The individual, however, is
advised to put in the efforts in order to deal with the thinning away of the aesthetic pleasures that
the individual might be experiencing.

4KIERKEGAARD’S AESTHETIC THEORY
References
Hannay, A. (2013). Kierkegaard-Arg Philosophers. Routledge.
Lowrie, W. (2013). A short life of Kierkegaard. Princeton University Press.
Miles, T. P. (2013). Kierkegaard and Nietzsche on the Best Way of Life: A New Method of
Ethics. Springer.
Obinyan, V. E. (2014). Nature of human existence in Kierkegaard’s ethical philosophy: A step
towards self-valuation and transformation in our contemporary world. International
Journal of Philosophy, 2(1), 1-14.
Senyshyn, Y. (2013). The artist in crisis: Kierkegaard's philosophy of the aesthetic stage of
existence and live musical performance. Lulu Press, Inc.
Storsletten, V. M., & Jakobsen, O. D. (2015). Development of leadership theory in the
perspective of Kierkegaard’s philosophy. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(2), 337-349.