Tolstoy's the Kreutzer Sonata and the Kierkegaardian "Either/Or"

HILARY F I N K (New Haven, CT, USA) TOLSTOY'S THE KREUTZER SONATA AND THE KIERKEGAARDIAN "EITHER/OR" Several compelling articles have been written on the thematic parallels be- tween Kierkegaard's philosophy and various works o f Russian l i t e r a t u r e These typological studies point to the existential despair o f certain literary figures resulting from their submersion in what Kierkegaard calls the aesthetic mode o f being, a mode in which one is focused entirely on the immediate, on the enjoyment o f life, and is thus prevented from progressing to the ethical

Art · Epistemology · Existentialism · Literature · Mode (computer interface) · Parallels · Psychoanalysis · Kierkegaardian Philosophy and Influence · Philosophy · Psychology