Oh, Dostoevsky.. How many times have I tried to read your “Crime and Punishment” and given up? This week we read excerpts from “Notes from the Underground” and “The Grand Inquisitor” which were much easier to get through and rather enjoyable. Especially the latter which had me choking up at the end. Dostoevsky seems to write with characters who have a particular philosophical view, but do not necessarily reflect those of Dostoevsky (who is apparently a Christian).
First up was an bit from “Notes From Underground” where the narrator discusses free will versus determinism. In this reading, Dostoevsky seems to argue that rationality and science have deprived us of our free will. A rational person wouldn’t choose anything which may end up hurting him, therefore his actions are all dictated by this rationality. In this way they would be limited. So in order for man to be truly free, he would need to make choices independent of rationality, even if it might end up hurting him in the end. There seemed to be confusion in class on what Dostoevsky calls the most advantageous advantage, but I believe this is precisely it. Where typically advantages consist of “prosperity, wealth, freedom, peace,” (40) the most advantageous advantage is freedom. For Dostoevsky says that “man everywhere and always, whoever he may be, has preferred to act as he wished and not in the least as his reason and advantage dictated” (43). When trying to understand this in my head it seems a bit contradictory. Is Dostoevsky saying that in some cases, the most advantageous advantage would end up being a disadvantage because it proves to be injurious?
Our next reading was “The Grand Inquisitor,” a parable from The Brothers Karamazov. In this reading the rationalist, atheistic Ivan explains the story of an old Cardinal (The Grand Inquisitor) and his meeting with Jesus Christ to his naive christian brother Alyosha. In this parable, the Cardinal explains how Jesus has done something horrible to people. By allowing them to free, that is to decide for themselves what “right” and “wrong.” The Cardinal’s argument in this story is that men can’t be happy and free simultaneously, so what Jesus did wasn’t truly in their best interest. He left his followers alone with their conscience with only the image of christ as their guide. This has confused them greatly, and their freedom to decide good and evil will drive them to misery. To me this parallels Nietzsche’s belief that conscience is a bad thing. With this in mind, the Cardinal has taken it upon himself and the church, to take on this enormous burden of conscience. He has given his followers happiness and has decided good and evil for them. The church has taken away their freedom and he believes it to be in their best interest, and now he is upset that Jesus has returned. Has Jesus returned to stop the Cardinal after all his efforts to make them happy? Does Jesus wish to give the people their freedom back? It is revealed by Ivan near the end of the story that the Cardinal doesn’t really believe in god, but loves humanity so much that he is willing to take on this burden disguised as a believer. The only thing that Jesus does throughout this conversation (If you can even call it that when only the Cardinal is speaking) is give him an ambiguous kiss on the lips.
So is it true that man can either be happy or free? I believe that one could have this free will and still be happy, but I can certainly see why the Grand Inquisitor wanted to take this burden upon himself and the church. Don’t we humans want to be free though? No matter how convincingly rationality and scientific study will tell me that my life is predetermined, something inside me insists that I make my own decisions. This seems to be one of the underlying themes of existentialism: Freedom versus Fate.
Dosteovsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor” has reminded me of a poem by William Blake called The Everlasting Gospel. I’d like to leave you with a few lines from this poem in the hopes that you might read the whole thing and understand the parallels that I see.
“THE VISION OF CHRIST that thou dost see
Is my vision’s greatest enemy.
Thine has a great hook nose like thine;
Mine has a snub nose like to mine.
Thine is the Friend of all Mankind;
Mine speaks in parables to the blind.
Thine loves the same world that mine hates;
thy heaven doors are my hell gates.”
- William Blake -
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