Abstract
The aristocratic radical and the revolutionist out of conservatism: Nietzsche, Dostoevsky and the Conservative Revolution. Dostoevsky’s influence on Nietzsche commonly has either not been noticed at all or it has been grossly overestimated. Although striking similarities can be found in comparing both authors’ worldviews, especially in their criticism of modernity and their vigorous anti-socialism, Dostoevsky’s actual influence might have been more subtle and clearly limited to some details of Nietzsche’s later work. This article aims to assess the true extent of Nietzsche’s reading of Dostoevsky, attempting to separate the most powerful speculations from aspects that can actually be traced back to the renowned Russian author. It will be argued that the ideological proximity of both authors might have lead to parallel and sometimes overlapping readings among intellectuals belonging to the German Conservative Revolutionary movement. As exemplified by Thomas Mann, there may have even been tendencies to take Dostoevsky’s writings as a kind of subtext for an understanding of Nietzschean philosophy.
