Abstracts
The salience of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novels for philosophical reflection is undeniable. By providing a myriad of often dialectically mediating perspectives on certain subjects, he can serve as a rich fount for philosophical polemic. Many readers have been prone to confine the philosophical import of Dostoevsky’s prose to such a polyphony of dialectically interacting perspectives. In this article, this topic is taken up with a focus on the differing points of view on human salvation espoused by the protagonists of The Brothers Karamazov. It will be argued that Dostoevsky held to a view that only through certain existential struggles the human agent can attain a full-blooded experience of redemption. This argument will be made from the dialectical development of predominantly Ivan and Alyosha Karamazov.
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Notes
Dostoevsky (1991, p. 622).
Bakhtin (1984, p. 6).
Scanlan (2002, p. 4).
The famous exception to this is Vladimir Nabokov, writer of ‘Lolita’: Nabokov (1973). Interestingly, when Dostoevsky was apprehended for his involvement with leftist groups, he was questioned by one General Nabokov, the great-granduncle of Vladimir Nabokov.
Lauth (1950, p. 18; my translation)
Eltchaninoff (1998, p. 69; my translation).
Malcolm Jones very helpfully calls these cross-pressures: Jones (1990, 77 ff).
Bakhtin (1984, p. 26).
Dostoevsky (2007, p. 810).
What such redemption exactly entails remains obscure in most of Dostoevsky’s novels. Dostoevsky was primarily a psychologist of the mental development of characters up to their redemption. With regard to Crime and Punishment, Rowan Williams rightly points out that this book “does not end with an unambiguous statement of Raskolnikov’s repentance and conversion: he is still on the threshold of anything like recognizable Christian faith […] There is always more to be said” (Williams 2008, pp. 114–115).
Jackson (1981, p. 198).
Ibid., pp. 90 ff. Cf. also Cascardi (1986, 107 ff).
Blank (2007a, pp. 21–37).
Terras (2002, p. 42).
Quoted in Jones (2002, pp. 155–156).
Dostoevsky (2007, p. 743).
Resp.: Dostoevsky (2007, pp. 16–25).
Ibid., p. 55.
Ibid., p. 60. Victor Terras mentions Father Amvrosy (1812–1891), Father Zossima of Tobolsk (1767–1835) and Tikhon of Zadonsk (1724–1783) as possible sources for Dostoevsky’s description of Father Zossima (Terras, Commentary on the Genesis, Language, and Style of Dostoevsky’s Novel, 29). While he is definitely one of the more important and influential characters throughout The Brothers Karamazov (particularly in his influence on Ivan and Alyosha), he lacks the spiritual turmoil and existential struggle that typifies Dostoevsky’s most engaging characters. This is why numerous commentators suggest that Father Zossima lacks an authentically psychological dimension as he would be Dostoevsky’s “perfect man”: e.g. Linner (1975, p. 37). Such lack of existential turmoil appears uncharacteristic of Dostoevsky’s deeply-psychological style and accordingly the character of Father Zossima has a certain independence from the rest of Dostoevsky’s characters.
Dostoevsky (2007, pp. 269–275).
Ibid., p. 276.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 274.
Ibid., p. 278.
Most readers would generally believe that the proper response to the Grand-Inquisitor and the problem of evil comes in Father Zossima’s last dialogue (Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, pp. 321–374). Zossima argues that Modern man misunderstands freedom as the ability to embrace trivial and nonsensical desires. Instead, he believes that true freedom consists in renouncing all insignificant things and embracing the monastic life, which will lead towards a sense of ‘responsibility for all’. For a comprehensive discussion: O’Connor (2009, pp. 175–187). While this is a central aspect of the resolution, my focus here is to show that this perspective tends to downplay the importance of ‘struggle’ in coming to such redemption.
Harrison (2013, pp. 388–402).
For a concise summary of the Eastern Orthodox church on this issue: Clément (1961, pp. 32–37).
Solovyov’s lectures on divine humanity were attended by both Dostoevsky and Tolstoy: Solovyov (1995).
Harrison argues that Dostoevsky was influenced by the German Romantics who wanted to return the apparent self of rational egoism to a higher self. This was done by a rebirth through illumination, which resounds of the Romantics sense of Heimweh in which they yearned for a lost unity wherein they could find peace. For instance, William Wordsworth rhymed in his Lines Composed above Tintern Abbey (1798): “But trailing clouds of glory do we come/From God, who is our home” (Harrison, ‘The Numinous Experience of Ego Transcendence’, pp. 388–402). One pressing difficulty with this reading is that it misses the perennial struggle that accompanies authentic existence, which is exactly something the German Romantics wanted to escape.
Dostoevsky (2007, p. 380).
Ibid., p. 378.
Ibid., p. 25.
Ibid., p. 405.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 406.
Ibid., p. 389.
Ibid.
Ibid., pp. 414–419.
Dostoevsky (2004, p. 30).
Williams (2008, pp. 26–33).
Dostoevsky (2007, p. 292).
Williams (2008, p. 32).
Dostoevsky (2007, p. 698).
Ibid., p. 714.
Fyodor Karamazov could very well be one of the most loathsome inventions in all of world-literature. More so, Dostoevsky could have very well modeled Fyodor to his own father Mikhail Dostoevsky who was known for his violent and abusive treatment of his serfs, particularly their young daughters. When his serfs were fed up with this abuse, they waylaid his carriage and forced vodka down his throat until he died. When Fyodor Dostoevsky received this news, he allegedly experienced his first epileptic seizure—something that will plague him and many of his characters throughout their lives: Strathern (2004).
Dostoevsky (2004, 304 ff).
Ibid., p. 736.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 419.
Dostoevsky (2007, p. 743).
Evlampiev (2002, pp. 7–32).
Nietzsche (2005, p. 219).
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Auweele, D.V. Existential struggles in Dostoevsky’s the Brothers Karamazov. Int J Philos Relig 80, 279–296 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-016-9561-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-016-9561-6