"Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it. Laugh at the world’s foolishness, you will regret it; weep over it, you will regret that too!" ❤️

Kierkegaard (1813) – the Father of Existentialism

&

Karl Marx (1818) – the Father of Communism

#onhisbirthdaytoday

5th May 2026

Well, these two legends were born on this very same day – 5th May!

Although both were born just five years apart, they don’t seem to have met with each other any point of time in their lives.

Both thinkers were philosophical surgeons who diagnosed the modern human condition – especially its weaknesses and sicknesses!

While Marx focused on material and social alienation, Kierkegaard focused on spiritual and psychological alienation.

To Kierkegaard, modern individuals were alienated from their true, authentic selves due to the effect of mass society, the crowd mentality, and the avoidance of personal responsibility.

Both Kierkegaard and Marx were sceptical of the ‘crowd mentality’. That’s hence Kierkegaard famously stated that, ‘Crowd is Untruth’.

Both felt that, truth is found in action - revolutionary action that alters the individual and the society for the better!

Both were very critical of Hegel. However, Marx moved towards atheism and materialist politics, while Kierkegaard moved towards personal religious faith!

In other words, Marx focused solely on economic, sociological, and political revolution. In his first major political pamphlet titled, The Communist Manifesto in 1848, he famously declared that, “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”, in which social classes are defined by the relationship of people to the means of production.

Kierkegaard on the other hand, focused on individual existence, theology, and philosophy. In his first published work titled, Either/Or in 1843, he famously remarked –

“Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it; marry or don’t marry, you will regret it either way. Laugh at the world’s foolishness, you will regret it; weep over it, you will regret that too; laugh at the world’s foolishness or weep over it, you will regret both... This, gentlemen, is the essence of all philosophy.”

This line beautifully encapsulates the deep existential crisis that Kierkegaard foregrounds as his core philosophy. The character “A” in his Either/Or is literally trapped in a state of aesthetic paralysis!

Aesthetic Paralysis!

Well, this particular phrase intrigued me lotsss!

Aesthetic paralysis - a state of stagnation disguised as enjoyment, where the individual is trapped in a loop of boredom and desire, unable to make genuine commitments or choices in their life.

Which means to say that, the aesthete is not merely looking for pleasure - but they are always on the chase for pleasure - chasing the “interesting” to avoid the authentic life, thereby leading to a “trapped” life.

As a result, the Aesthete avoids making choices in their lives. The aesthetic life is a “spectator view” of the world, rather than an engaged, active participative view of the world!

That’s hence Kierkegaard argues that the only way to cure aesthetic paralysis is to make a definitive leap into the Ethical Stage. This requires taking a “leap of faith” (a term that he had coined) to make a firm commitment (like a vocation, a career or a moral duty) and taking absolute responsibility for that choice.

Now for the literary takeaways – as usual 😊

And for our readers - this post is just an overview to a very tiny bit of takeaways gleaned from the two legends, with special emphasis on Kierkegaard!

Coming back -

In a way, Kierkegaard’s 1843 Either/Or may be said to foreground for us our modern digital crisis, and how the “Ethical Leap” offers a way out from the digital trap!

So yes! how do we come out of this aesthetic paralysis especially in today’s highly wired, digital world? 😊

Before proceeding further, let me first define who is Aesthete A!

In Soren Kierkegaard’s Either/Or, Aesthete A is the pseudonymous author of the first volume of his monumental 1843 work, Either/Or. Aesthete A in essence, is the ultimate embodiment of the aesthetic stage of life.

To Kierkegaard, the “aesthetic” life is one lived for the moment, focused on sensory experience, pleasure, and the avoidance of pain and the pursuit of the “interesting.”

In this respect, for Aesthete A, the ultimate evil in the world is not sin; it is boredom. He views life as inherently meaningless and empty, and his entire existence is a frantic effort to distract himself from this underlying emptiness of life.

In a famous essay within Either/Or titled “The Rotation of Crops,” Aesthete A argues that just as a farmer must scroll oops rotate crops to keep the soil fertile, a person must constantly rotate their experiences to avoid boredom!

Because Aesthete A wants to remain free to pursue whatever catches his fancy at any given moment, he is terrified of commitment. He refuses to make any permanent choices - no job, no career, no marriage, no deep moral obligations, etc. To “A,” committing to something means losing touch with the pleasurable and the interesting! This makes him brilliant but ultimately aesthetically paralysed.

In short, Aesthete A is characterised as a detached intellectual who lives entirely for pleasure, novelty, and excitement to avoid boredom!

That’s hence, for Kierkegaard’s Aesthete A the greatest fear is committing to one path and losing all others.

In fact, Social media algorithms capitalise and work on this exact fear. Every time the Aesthete A indulges in swiping or doomscrolling, they are presented with infinite number of new possibilities! It could be a political meme, a funny incident, a political outrage, a new travel destination, a new lifestyle aesthetic, or a new subculture.

In the process, Aesthete A is subtly being exposed to a million different ways of living, but because “A” is just scrolling, he is not actually living any of them. Aesthete ‘A’ is immobilised and paralysed on the sofa, suffocated skyhigh by the infinite digital possibilities while his actual, physical life remains entirely stagnant!

To Kierkegaard, the Aesthete treats life as a passive theatrical performance to be watched rather than an active and authentic life to actively participate in.

It is so heart-warming to note that, Kierkegaard had predicted - way back in 1843 itself - that, this endless chasing of the pleasurable and the interesting, ultimately results in despair of the aesthetic life. It is the realisation that Aesthete A has been consuming mindless content for hours, but has gained no actual meaning in the process.

So what is the solution that Kierkegaard offers?

Well, in order to cure this aesthetic paralysis, Kierkegaard argues that, one must make a “leap” into the Ethical stage.

The Ethical stage is fundamentally about duty, consistency, and grounding oneself in reality. When we step away from the unending digital trap, we choose to anchor ourselves in the physical world.

This way, we tend to reclaim a cohesive, holistic identity where our identity is carved – not by fragmented and fleeting videos, likes, and memes, but is built slowly, steadily and consistently through real-world action - that can help in forming a genuine, unfragmented self - an authentic existence, says Kierkegaard.