This is the first in a series of four short lectures that describe the similarities and differences between the early work of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. 

The lectures will focus on Kierkegaard's book Enten Eller and two of Nietzsche's books Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik and Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen. All lectures include short readings from the original text in Danish and German simultaneously translated and explained in English. 

This lecture is dedicated to the first similarity between the two philosophers.  Kierkegaard and Nietzsche both criticize large philosophical systems, exemplified by the work of Hegel and offer an alternative way to do philosophy.