fyodor dostoevski philosophy 151 winter, 2004 g. j. mattey
TRANSCRIPT
A Utopian Vision
● Notes from Underground (1864) was written in response to N. G. Chernyshevsky’s What is to be Done (1862)
● This book was in turn a response to a nihilistic character in Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons (1862)
● Chernyshevsky portrayed a utopian society populated by beautiful, healthy people and symbolized by a crystal palace
A Sick and Spiteful Man
● The narrator begins by declaring himself to be a sick and spiteful, as well as distinctly non-beautiful, man
● Dostoevski states in a footnote that this person is a representative of a type that must exist in present society
● He adds that in the first part of the work, the narrator tries to explain why his own type is an inevitable product of his society
A Spiteful Official
● Our narrator writes at age forty● He has probably had liver disease since age
twenty, but he refuses to see a doctor● He was formerly a government bureaucrat● He tells us that he was rude to his clients and
took pleasure in his rudeness● Yet he admits paradoxically that he was not
really spiteful, but only amusing himself at the expense of his clients
Opposite Elements
● What caused the narrator’s spite was the recognition that even in his most extreme moments, he could not be spiteful
● Many elements contrary to spite have always been in him, though he has suppressed them
● This is the basis of his sickness● If treated like a child, he might be appeased
or even touched, though he would be ashamed of this
Characterless
● To be spiteful or kind, a rascal or honest man, a hero or an insect, is to have some kind of character
● Character is possessed by people of action, who are limited in intelligence
● Intelligent people, conversely, can not be anything: they can have no character
● This is the narrator’s “spiteful and useless consolation” for his wretched existence
Underground
● Having worked as a collegiate assessor, the narrator quit when he came into a small inheritance
● His living conditions have deteriorated– His dwellings are wretched– His servant is ill-natured, stupid, and smelly– The climate is bad for his health– It is too expensive for him to live where he does
● But he is not going away
Too Conscious
● To be too conscious is an illness● Human beings only need a quarter of the
consciousness of an intelligent inhabitant of a sophisticated city
● This claim is not directed at the “man of action,” since to be ill is no source of pride
● Absurdly, the narrator (as do others) prides himself on his illness
The “Sublime and Beautiful”
● In the presence of what was called the “sublime and beautiful,” the narrator thinks ugly thoughts and does ugly deeds
● His so doing did not seem to be accidental to him, but rather his normal state
● At first he was ashamed of his abnormality● But he came to cultivate it, to the point where
it brought him “real positive enjoyment”
The Last Barrier
● The narrator is writing to try to explain his enjoyment in his degradation
● The enjoyment of degradation is rooted in natural laws that govern the over-acute consciousness, so that there is no blame
● One feels that one’s degradation is horrible but cannot be overcome
● Or, if it could be overcome, one would do nothing to overcome it
The Enjoyment of Despair
● The narrator is hyper-sensitive● He supposes that he would find enjoyment
from being slapped in the face● He would find enjoyment in his despair, his
“consciousness of being rubbed into a pulp”● He is always to blame due to:
– His cleverness– His lack of magnanimity
No Response
● Even if the narrator had had magnanimity, he would have suffered from his sense of its uselessness– He would not not forgive the assault, since the
slap was a consequence of a law of nature– He would not forget the assault because it is
insulting, even if it is the result of a law of nature● Nor could he have exacted revenge, since he
could not have brought himself to carry it out, even if he had wanted to
The Direct Person
● In general, one who seeks revenge devotes his whole being to it
● He charges against his opponent like a raging bull with its horns down
● The only thing that can stop him is a wall● The narrator envies such a man, despite his
stupidity● The direct person appears to be the normal
person
A Mouse, Not a Man
● Confronted with the direct person, the hyper-conscious person regards himself as a mouse
● No one asks him to view himself in this way● He may be a mouse of acute consciousness,
but he is not a man● He seems to have been born from a test-
tube, not from nature
The Mouse in Action
● How does the mouse react when insulted?● He may accumulate more venom than the
natural man, who stupidly looks at his revenge as mere justice
● He creates a web of doubt and indecision and then retreats into his mouse-hole
● He becomes absorbed in cold, malignant, everlasting spite, which is magnified with the passage of time
● If he acts at all, he only hurts himself
The Stone Wall
● Confronted with the impossible, people of strong nerves stop their bellowing
● The impossible, the stone wall, is the violation of the laws of nature
● “Twice two is a law of mathematics. Just try refuting it”
● Although the narrator does not have the strength to knock the wall down, he is not reconciled to it because it disgusts him
Enjoyment in a Toothache
● If enjoyment is found in despair at not being able to overcome the stone wall, may it be found even in a toothache?
● People with toothaches moan malignantly● The moans express the aimlessness of the
pain: no one is responsible● The educated man will moan only to amuse
himself, thereby annoying everyone else
Ennui
● A person who finds enjoyment in self-degradation has no self-respect
● The narrator used to get into trouble where he was not to blame
● He took offense on purpose● Later he felt remorse and a sick feeling in his
heart● The reason of these ingrained pranks was
inertia, ennui
Primary Causes
● “Men of action” are able to act because they mistake secondary causes for primary causes
● But a person of reflection will recognize that primary causes are unattainable, due to an infinite regress
● The laws of nature thus dissipate anger● So his only motive for revenge is spite: the
desire to beat against the wall so as to perform some action or other
Golden Dreams
● The narrator might have done nothing from laziness
● Then he would have been able to respect himself
● He could have been a sophisticated sluggard and glutton, who drinks to the health of the “sublime and beautiful”
● He would be an “asset,” which is rare in the current negative age
Self-Interest
● It is a commonplace that if people were to know what is to their advantage, then they would act only according to them
● But this is naïve innocence● Historically, humans have always acted
against their own interests because they have disliked the beaten track
● What is to one’s “advantage” may be something that brings him harm
Advantage
● Advantage has been understood in terms of statistical figures and politico-economic formulas
● The advantages are supposed to be “prosperity, wealth, freedom, peace—and so on”
● Yet one advantage is left out invariably● “The most advantageous advantage”
motivates people to flout all laws and all the other “advantages”
Logical Exercises
● The most advantageous advantage breaks down all logical and social classifications
● All the systems of human “interests” are rendered nothing more than logical exercises
● The “predilection for systems and abstract definitions” lead to distortion of the truth
● The claim that civilization softens us is refuted by continual bloodshed
Which is Worse?
● We think that bloodshed is abominable, yet we still engage in it
● We may not be more bloodthirsty, but our bloodthirstiness is more vile
● Is not the present situation worse, because we should know better?
● Is it really the case that our problem is that we have not yet shed some old bad habits?
The Crystal Palace
● Modern thinkers claim that human actions are the outcome of laws of nature
● Humans are mere “piano-keys”● Once this is known (it is claimed) human
society will calm down and proceed on a scientific basis
● The “Palace of Crystal” will be built, and we will live in the halcyon days
Revolt
● If such a “rational” society were to develop, it would lead to boredom
● People would revert to cruelty because they would find life frightfully dull
● Someone will come along advocating the destruction of the beautiful palace in favor of “our own sweet foolish will”
● He expresses the fact that people in the end act simply as they choose to act
The Most Advantageous Advantage
● The narrator’s thesis is that capricious action is the most advantageous
● It cannot be classified within a system, because it works against the system itself
● Theorizers have postulated that human beings want a rational choice
● But what they really want is an independent choice, wherever it may lead
Piano Keys
● The narrator’s inclination to be skeptical about the origin of choice is opposed by the results of science
● If choice is reduced to a formula, then desire will come to an end
● Human beings will be transformed into piano keys without free will
● The advocate of science accepts this conclusion
Reason and Will
● The narrator is “over-philosophical” due to his forty years underground
● He allows that reason is an excellent tool for that rational side of man, which is “one twentieth” of the capacity for life
● Will, on the other hand, manifests all of human life
● We assert our will, stupidly, in order to assert our personality and individuality
Moral Obliquity
● The worse defect of the “ungrateful biped” is his moral obliquity and lack of good sense
● All of history is proof of this● It is monotonous because it is the chonicle of
fighting and more fighting● All the products of the most disordered
imagination have come to pass● “The only thing one can’t say is that it’s
rational”
Never Enough
● Even if men lived in the most rational of societies, with all their needs fulfilled, they would still play some nasty trick out of sheer ingratitude or spite
● The reason is that they must prove that they are free and not piano-keys
● They will launch a curse upon the world – The ability to unleash a curse is what separates
human beings from other animals
Coincidence
● It can be objected that human freedom can be preserved despite the total predictability of human action
● Human will may freely coincide with the laws of rationality according to which we act to promote our interests
● But this is no kind of freedom● Free willing is something that cannot be
tabulated in advance
Reformation
● The narrator states that he is joking● But he has serious questions
– Is it desirable to reform people according to science and good sense?
– Why do people need reformation?– Is not “reformed” behavior sometimes not to
people’s advantage?● The answers of the reformers are only
suppositions, which “may be the law of logic, but not the law of humanity”
Creation and Destruction
● Human beings have a creative side● Even the most stupid practical person gets
more out of the acting than out of accomplishing the end of acting
● It may be that humans love chaos and destruction because they are afraid of attaining their end
● Our lives do not begin and end with the ant-heaps we construct
Afraid of the End?
● Human beings go to great lengths to attain mathematical certainty
● But it may be that humans are afraid of attaining it, just as the narrator is
● When the end is attained, there is nothing else to look for
● Humans absurdly do not like what it is they have endeavored to attain, once they attain it
Suffering
● Why is it assumed that what humans seek to attain is well-being
● Perhaps they are just as fond of suffering● Perhaps suffering is just as much a benefit to
humans as is well-being● It is sometimes very pleasant to smash
things, whether it is good or bad● Suffering is the origin of consciousness,
which we will never renounce
A False Mansion
● The palace of crystal exists only in the imagination of men of a certain era
● The real situation is one more resembling a hen-house or a block of apartments
● Everything that has been constructed is subject to ridicule
● It would be good if there were something that could not be ridiculed
● We must at least hope for such a thing
The Underground Life
● Although the narrator envies the normal person, he does not want to be normal
● At first he praises the inertia of the underground life
● But then he retracts this and says only that he desires something different which he cannot find
● And he says that the whole diatribe was a lie
As if I Had Readers
● The imaginary audience to which the narrator has addressed his speech accuses him of dishonesty
● He responds that the audience itself is a fiction—that his is writing only for himself
● He is trying to be totally honest with himself regarding his “early adventures”
● To commit his thoughts to paper may be helpful in this endeavor, as well as to get rid of his oppressive thoughts of the past
At the Office
● The narrator describes his workplace● He hated his fellow-clerks, who were lowly
but did not care that they were● His attitude alternated between despising
them and feeling them to be superior to him● He could not look anyone in the face● He was conventional to avoid looking
ridiculous to those upon whom he looked down
A Coward and a Slave
● The narrator was morbidly sensitive, as one should be at that time
● He was intelligent enough to know himself to be a coward and a slave
● To be a coward and a slave is was the normal condition
● No one is valiant: at the moment of truth everyone will flee
Romantic
● The narrator was not always in a morbid frame of mind
● He would sometimes become skeptical and indifferent
● He socialized with others● He would reproach himself for being romantic● But he would then be a realistic romantic, not
a transcendental European romantic
Solitude
● The dalliance with social life soon ended● The narrator spent most of the time alone● His main activity was reading, from which he
got pleasure, pain, and sometimes boredom● To overcome boredom, he plunged into petty
vice● His “justification” was that he was depressed
and had nothing in his surroundings that he could respect
The Officer
● One night, the narrator passed by a tavern and saw someone defenestrated
● He went into the tavern looking to get thrown out of a window himself
● Instead, a military officer unceremoniously lifted the narrator out of his way
● He did not protest (for which he would have gotten his wish), but instead resentfully retreated from the tavern
Moral Cowardice
● The narrator asserts that he was not a coward at heart, but a coward in action
● His action was based on “an unbounded vanity”
● He was afraid not of a beating, but of his actions being misunderstood by the rabble
● The officer himself would have insulted him before beating him and throwing him out the window
Revenge
● For years, the narrator nourished his spite and plotted revenge
● He found out the details of the officer’s life● He tried to write a satire about him, but he
could not get it published● His “brilliant” plan was not to get out of the
way when the officer came toward him● But first, he had to borrow money to dress
himself half-decently
Brief Respite
● The narrator could not work out the courage to carry out his plan
● His nerve failed him just before the would-be collision
● He resolved to abandon the plan● When he was rehearsing the abandonment,
he chanced into the officer and rammed him● This made him feel avenged, and happy for a
few days, but it could not last
Escape
● The narrator learned to endure his sickness● But he also had a means of escape through
his dreams of “the sublime and the beautiful”● He became a hero, not a “chicken heart”● He was full of emotion and positively happy● He fancied reality as opening up to him as
almost riding a white horse and crowned with a laurel
Fantastic Love
● The narrator felt a love that exists only in his fantasies, not in reality
● He was triumphant over everyone, who in turn recognized his superiority
● Then he forgave them all ● He fell in love, acquired a fortune, then gave
it away● But this is all “vulgar and contemptible,” as is
the attempt to justify himself through this
Plunging into Society
● The period of dreaming would last a few months and would be followed by attempts to be sociable
● He carried this out by visiting his boss at his home on the boss’s day off
● But the scene there was stultifying, and the narrator did not interact with anyone
● He went home re-thinking his romantic resolve to embrace all of humanity
A Schoolmate
● The narrator’s other acquaintance was a schoolmate
● He had hated his schoolmates generally● But he found in one of them “a certain
independence of character, and even honesty”
● They had had close moments, but those moments were now an embarrassment
● The schoolmate probably disliked him
Crashing the Party-Planning
● The narrator visits his schoolmate, who has guests who are planning a party
● They pay no attention to him, treating him like a “common fly”
● The narrator’s failure in life magnified the hatred they had for him as a student
● The guest of the party is a vulgar, swaggering heir to a fortune, who “had been favored by the gifts of nature”
Zverkov
● The schoolmate Zverkov was to leave St. Petersburg, hence the going-away party
● The narrator had verbally attacked in him school when he was boasting about his future sexual exploits
● The attack was not out of sympathy for the women, but because the other students had applauded him
● Eventually they parted on good terms
Crashing the Party
● The three schoolmates planning the party decide on the place and the contribution
● The narrator insists on being included, claiming he is hurt by being left out
● The schoolmates agree reluctantly to include him in the festivities
● The narrator questions his own motives in agreeing to go
● But he justifies it exactly because it would be so unseemly for him to do so
Bad Memories
● Having agreed to attend the party for someone he scorned, the narrator recollects his school days
● He was an orphan who had been sent to boarding school by distant relatives
● At school, he was mercilessly taunted by the stupid other boys
● They were not “real people” in contrast to his dreaming: they knew nothing of life
Reaction
● The narrator did not desire the affection of his fellow-students, but instead longed to humiliate them
● His weapon was to excel in his studies● He was no longer mocked, but he was still
hated● He wanted a social life, but it never worked
out● Once he had a friend, but he repaid his
affection by tyrannizing him
The Real Thing
● The narrator was quickened by the thought of the party, though he was ill-prepared for it
● He brooded over how it would go, but still he thought it was “the real thing”
● He dreamed of getting the upper hand over these vulgar people
● Yet he recognized that he did not really care how it would turn out
Condescension
● The narrator was humiliated by arriving an hour early because he was not informed of a change in schedule
● Zverkov greeted him with condescension● It startled the narrator to see the Zverkov
really believed he was superior to him● He was embarrassed to reveal the
circumstances of his employment● He starts to mock Zverkov’s speech
Drunk
● The narrator thinks it is an honor for the others to be with him, while they think it is an honor for him to be with them
● He decides to leave, but he stays● He finally gets drunk and causes a scene by
condemning Zverkov’s type● He tries unsuccessfully to provoke a duel ● He waits for them to address him, but they
ignore him
To the Brothel
● After dinner, the company retire to a sofa for more drinking
● The narrator walks back and forth between his table and the stove
● The revelers become even more drunk and decide to go to the brothel
● The narrator apologizes for insulting Zverkov, but he replies that it would be impossible for the narrator to insult him
Everything is Lost!
● The narrator borrows money to follow the party to the brothel, to try again to humiliate them
● In his mind, he humorously contrasts this reality with his romantic fantasies
● He declares himself a scoundrel for making fun of his situation
● But he dismisses the thought because he has committed himself to the act: “everything is lost!”
“I’ll Give it to Him”
● The narrator resolves that upon entering the brothel, he will “give it to” Zverkov
● He will pull the hair of the prostitute who once refused him and pull Zverkov’s ears
● Although he will be beaten up, he will have taken the initiative
● Then the duel will finally take place● The plan, of course, was obviously absurd,
and he stops en route but goes on by fate
Liza
● The revelers have already left the parlor when the narrator arrives
● There, he meets a somber young prostitute, Liza
● The narrator declares himself happy to be repulsive to her
● After a very long silence, he begins to question her
● He tells her horror-stories about the ultimate fate of the young prostitute
Sentimentality
● The narrator next paints a deeply sentimental picture of the life that Liza left
● He romanticizes the relation between father and daughter
● Liza points out that many fathers are eager to sell their daughters
● The narrator responds by saying that a woman in a bad marriage should count her blessings
Love
● The romantic theme is taken to even greater depths
● Love will overcome all quarrels between husband and wife
● “Love is a holy mystery”● It should abide after the the first phase of
marriage, culminating in a “union of souls”● Even the most difficult times will seem happy,
etc.
Bookishness
● Liza responds by telling the narrator ironically that he speaks “somehow like a book”
● In reaction, an “evil feeling took possession” of him
● He did not realize that her irony was covering up her feelings
● In an innocent persons, the feelings are kept back out of pride
Worthless Love
● Now the narrator turns his rage against Liza, doing his best to humiliate her
● He says that in other circumstances, he could fall in love with her
● But in the brothel, he can only dominate her● Her love—her priceless treasure—is worth
nothing here● Any lover she had would have to share her
Consumption
● Liza’s ultimate fate is grim● She will never be able to get out of debt● She will move to more and more disgusting
brothels● Eventually, she will be sick from consumption ● She will be abandoned in the filthiest corner
to die● No one will remember her
Despair
● The speech had its intended effect● The narrator had never before witnessed
such despair● He asks her forgiveness and gives her his
address● She fetches a letter from a medical student
“who knew nothing” of her plight● She wanted to show she was loved, though
nothing would come of it
Aftermath
● After leaving, the narrator is amazed by his sentimentality and upset by the thought that Liza might call on him
● He repays his debt to his schoolmate, writing a noble letter
● He goes out into the busy street, wondering what is wrong with him
● He is worrying about Liza’s possible visit to his shabby underground hole
New Dreams
● The narrator considers going to Liza to explain himself and beg her not to come
● But this made him wrathful and determined to crush her
● He reflects on how easy it was to turn her life around with a few bookish words
● After she does not come around to visit, he begins to dream of saving Liza
● He fantasizes telling her that he knew of her love from the start
Apollon
● The narrator is distracted by the behavior of his servant, Apollon
● This dignified, elderly tailor despises him ● His behavior toward him was tyrranical● In turn, the narrator hated Apollon● He resolved not to pay him his wages● Apollon responded by ritually staring at him
Visitation
● In the midst of the narrator’s confrontation with Apollon, Liza visits him
● He is humiliated by his ragged dress and his wretched dwelling-place
● Yet he professes not to be ashamed● He becomes hysterical ● Liza begins to speak, saying that she wants
to get away from the brothel
Confession
● The narrator reveals to Liza that the real object of his sentimental speech at the brothel was her humiliation
● He had no intention of saving her● He was only playing with words, and wished
that she and the others would go straight to hell
● He is an egoist who only played at being her hero, and he is ashamed
A Worm
● The narrator blames Liza for his own shame● He has confessed to her the worm-like
baseness of his existence● He asks why she remains there, “confronting”
him● Then he realized that she, out of love,
realizes that he is unhappy● She rushes to him and embraces him—and
he responds by being ashamed
Mastery and Possession
● At this point, there is a reversal of roles● She is the heroine and he the humiliated
creature● He reacts in his usual way, by attempting to
dominate and tyrannizing her● He wants to master and possess her● He hates her● And she rapturously embraces him
The Final Insult
● Liza finally understands what the narrator is up to
● She retreats behind a screen, crying● The narrator paces about, peeking in through
a crack● He was incapable of loving her because he
could only tyrranize and show his moral superiority
● That is even how he conceptualized love, even in his dreams
“Peace”
● All the narrator wanted at this point was to be left alone
● He did not realize that she had come to love him, not to hear his “fine sentiments”
● “Real life” was again oppressing him, and he wanted only the “peace” of solitude
● When she was leaving, he tried to give her money, which she threw away
● This was the final act of cruelty
Remorse?
● The narrator pursues her fruitlessly● He wanted to beg forgiveness● Yet he realized that it was to no purpose● He would only hate her tomorrow● And he would try to dominate her● He tried to rationalize his situation to say that
losing her would be better for both● “Which is better—cheap happiness or
exalted sufferings? Well, which is better?”
Oppression
● The narrator sums up by saying that the writing the story is not so much production of literature as corrective punishment
● A novel needs a hero, but the underground man is an anti-hero
● But are we not all cripples like him?● Without books, we would have no idea what
to do● We do not know how to live and are
oppressed at being real human beings
Crime and Punishment
● Two years later, Dostoevsky published his first great novel, Crime and Punishment
● The protagonist, Raskolnikov, in some ways resembles the underground man
● Leading an equally humiliating life, he sets out to do something real
● He commits a terrible crime in the name of a higher consciousness
Conscience
● The engine of the novel is the police investigation of the crime
● But the real theme is the gradual development of Raskolnikov’s guilty conscience
● He is aided in his purification by the prostitute Sonia
● In the end, he embraced Christianity and attempts to atone for his crime
The Idiot
● Another two years later, the second great novel, The Idiot, was published
● The central thesis is that a Jesus-like figure would find it impossible to survive in modern times
● Thus the book is an indictment of modern life as inhospitable to Christianity
The Possessed
● The third great novel came in 1871, three years after the second
● Here, Dostoevsky turns from the psychological arena to that of politics
● He portrays revolutionary reformers (as he once was) as utterly misguided
● The message is that only Christian faith, not political change, can bring salvation
The Brothers Karamazov
● The final great novel was his last, published in 1879
● The Brothers Karamazov is a sweeping tale of morality
● The characters personify the main types of human being– The religious– The sensualist– The rationalist
Doubt
● In one place, the characters try to come to grips with the problem of evil
● How could God allow the immense suffering of children?
● Children are completely innocent and not deserving of any punishment
● A possible answer is that Jesus has the right to forgive everything, because of his own innocent suffering
The Grand Inquisitor
● The most famous passage in the book centers on an inquisitor in the Spanish Inquisition
● Jesus comes back to earth and is incarcerated
● He is told by the inquisitor that he has no right to return, since the welfare of souls has been turned over to the Church
● Jesus’s error was to invite humans to love him freely rather than enslaving them