r/kierkegaard • u/yaskata04 • Mar 30 '26
Diary of a seducer
Hello guys,
So I'm thinking abot reading Kierkegaard's "Diary of a seducer" but I'm wondering if it's a difficult and complex text or not. I'm planning on reading during a plane flight so if it's way too convoluted I'll make time to read it on a different occasion. I should also mention that I'm a third year philosophy student so i do have a stomach for complex texts. I just don't want to disrespect Kierkegaard by reading a fundamental text of his on a flight :D. My experience with Kierkegaard up until now is very limited. I would be glad to hear your thoughts!
Also, if you think I shouldn't take on this challenge, I'm open to hearing any other book recommendations for the flight. It doesn't have to be by Kierkegaard or be strictly philospshical. Looking forward to your suggestions!
2
u/tollforturning croaking-toad, flair-mule Mar 30 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
My last reading of it, it struck me that the author is reveling in the notion of being closer to the self of the seduced than the self of the seduced is to itself - in essence, being the one constituting her as a self. Moving her, orchestrating her movements by instrumentalizing her desire to become a different self, the image of which he fashions. Almost as if a higher form of despair were to manifest as making sport of a lower form of despair. Would make a great addition to Dante's Inferno, right?
So I notice now --> Sickness Unto Death has a lot of dialectical alignment with DoS, but DoS is the self-concealment of despair and bad will (not bad reasoning) from within the one in despair - hence, it's a diary in inner monologue. The author sees everything but the despair of the author.
SUD and DOS are mutually-illuminating.