Constantius wonders about the young man's mental state in relation to motion and reflection. In Two Ages Kierkegaard criticizes his age for reflection without passion. Mere reflection is dull thought without passion and without commitment. Ethical repetition brings about motion and passionate commitment to the beloved. The split in him caused by his contact with her would be reconciled by his actually having returned to her.
Recollection is confined to motionlessness and to the past.
Kierkegaard's concept of repetition, on the other hand, is in constant movement and is connected to the ethical future. Repetition ends in addressing the religious sphere. Platonic recollection is treated in more detail in the Philosophical Fragments and Concluding Unscientific Postscript . Constantius' observations are followed by a correspondence between him and the young man. He then finishes with a closing letter to his reader.