D. Anthony Storm's Commentary on Kierkegaard

• A Little Explanation
• Et lille Indæg
• May 16, 1843
• KW13, SKS13, Fædrelandet 1236

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This is Kierkegaard's third article on his own authorship. In "Public Confession", under his own name, he disavowed authoring some early pseudonymous articles from his student days. Under the pseudonym A. F. he evaluated the current theories as to the identity of the author of Either/Or in an article entitled "Who is the Author of Either/Or?". Here, under his own name Kierkegaard writes quite briefly against the assertion that a sermon he preached on January 12, 1841 bore a striking similarity to the sermon that appears at the conclusion of Either/Or, ostensibly by the pseudonym B's friend. Kierkegaard maintains here that the sermons do not even possess a "fleeting resemblance", and that the one who originated the rumor had not even heard the sermon, but only knew that Kierkegaard had earlier preached a sermon.

As we have said elsewhere, Kierkegaard's denial is not meant to be a trifle or an immature ploy. It is thoroughly consistent with his authorial method whereby he created distance between the work and himself, so that the work could be considered by itself. For more on this see Kierkegaard's Authorial Method.

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