Abstract

This paper discusses how Kierkegaard’s aesthete in Either/or’s “Diapsalmata” and “Rotation of Crops” attempts to apply Hegel’s principle of mediation to everyday decision-making. This paper has two main goals: First, it provides an in-depth analysis of exactly how the aesthete’s approach to decision-making follows the dialectical pattern of Hegelian mediation. Second, it argues that even though the aesthete meets with unfortunate results, the aesthete cannot be so easily dismissed. The aesthete’s Hegelian perspective is still relevant to daily life because it provides an insightful view into how we ourselves sometimes approach decisions and cope with the difficulty of making decisions.