Published in 1974, "Uden mål – og med" is an essay collection by Danish author Villy Sørensen that won the ‘Nordic Council Literature Prize’ in 1974. Sørensen was both a poet and a philosopher, rolled into one: he rewrote myths, wrote social-analytic essays, described a range of figures of philosophy and culture (Nietzsche, Kafka, Seneca, Wagner, Christ…), and has told the story of Hans Christian Andersen’s life for children. "Uden mål – og med: moralske tanker" was the first collection of essays being awarded the ‘Nordic Council Literature Prize’: Sørensen diagnoses and debates a number of difficulties facing human beings in modern society such as moral and social impacts of modern science and technology, the problem of power, questions on the status of art and philosophy in modernity. He merges a wide range of human activities in a couple of questions: "can humans live without goals?" But also: "can humans live with goals?". According to the Adjudicating Committee, ‘Villy Sørensen in his dialectical fusion of concepts and phenomena from different areas of life, has emphasised the common problem of art, science, morality and politics steering towards mankind’s dream of a better future, all expressed in a highly artistic conscious prose.’
