In philosopher

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , , ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on ...

's ''

Either/Or ''Either/Or'' (Danish: ''Enten – Eller'') is the first published work of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Appearing in two volumes in 1843 under the pseudonymous editorship of ''Victor Eremita'' (Latin for "victorious hermit"), it o ...

'', the rotation method is the mechanism used by higher-level aesthetes in order to avoid

boredom In conventional usage, boredom, ennui, or tedium is an emotional and occasionally psychological state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, is listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occu ...

. The method is an essential

hedonistic Hedonism refers to a family of theories, all of which have in common that pleasure plays a central role in them. ''Psychological'' or ''motivational hedonism'' claims that human behavior is determined by desires to increase pleasure and to decre ...

aspect of the aesthetic way of life.

Overview

The rotation method has two forms: the inartistic and extensive, and the artistic and intensive. The inartistic and ordinary method prescribes to constantly change your surroundings and activities in order to escape boredom. Kierkegaard likens the vulgar rotation method to a false conception of

crop rotation Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. It reduces reliance on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, and the probability of developing resistant ...

, where it is imagined that the soil is continuously changed. This method is based on the illusion that boredom is merely produced by environmental constancy, and thus leads to an endless changing by mistaking the regularity of scenery for the cause, hence why this method is also called extensive. The artistic method truly prescribed by the aesthete, on the other hand, says to instead focus on changing the ways of conceiving, following the quote by Antoninus: "You can begin a new life. Only see things afresh as you used to see them. In this consists the new life". In contrast to the ordinary method, the artistic method says that limitation creates resourcefulness in using our ability to imagine, using examples of a prisoner playing with a spider, or school children playing with inanimate objects. Kierkegaard likens this to actual

, which consists in changing the method of cultivation and the kinds of crops. With this method comes the necessity of a little extensivity in activity and surroundings, analogous to the fallow land needed in crop rotation, in order to intensively develop ourselves. On this ground the aesthete develops a theory of social prudence, warning against the dangers of friendship, marriage, and official posts.

References

External links

The Rotation of Crops
Aesthetics Søren Kierkegaard {{aesthetics-stub