Dostoevsky's Radical Philosophy of Love
Summary
TLDRThis video explores Fyodor Dostoevsky's philosophy of love, highlighting its transformative power and potential for redemption. It delves into the dark consequences of lovelessness, the dangers of egoistic love, the sacrifices involved in selfless love, and the ultimate goal of universal love for all humanity.
Takeaways
- 📚 Dostoevsky's works frequently explore the theme of love, presenting it as a complex and essential aspect of the human experience.
- 😔 According to the script, the absence of love can lead to profound suffering, as depicted in 'Notes From The Underground' where the protagonist's life is devoid of affection and ends in misery.
- 🤔 Dostoevsky suggests that love is not just a powerful emotion but an indispensable component of a fulfilling life, without which we are destined to be unhappy.
- 👥 The script highlights the dangers of egoistic love, where individuals seek to control or dominate their partners for their own benefit, often leading to destructive outcomes.
- 💔 In 'Crime and Punishment' and 'The Meek One', Dostoevsky illustrates how possessiveness and jealousy in love can manifest in violence and self-destruction.
- 🔄 The author criticizes the intellectual circles of his time for their condescending attitude towards the Russian peasantry, reflecting a lack of genuine love and respect.
- ❤️ The concept of selfless love is presented as the purest form of affection, where love is given without expectation of return, even in the face of personal suffering.
- 🙏 Dostoevsky's later works emphasize the idea of loving through sacrifice, as seen in characters like Prince Mishkin from 'The Idiot' and Alyosha from 'The Brothers Karamazov'.
- 🌟 The script discusses the idea of 'active love' as opposed to passive or dreamy love, which requires continuous effort, fortitude, and the willingness to give without resentment.
- 🌍 Dostoevsky proposes a radical vision of universal love, where people practice selfless and open affection for all, as a means to transform the world and bring about salvation.
- 🕊️ The final takeaway emphasizes the power of love to redeem and transform individuals, as seen in the characters of Dostoevsky's novels who, despite their flaws, have the potential for goodness through love.
Q & A
What is the central theme of the video script regarding Fyodor Dostoevsky's philosophy on love?
-The central theme of the video script is the exploration of Fyodor Dostoevsky's philosophy on love, particularly how love can both compel us to commit self-destructive actions and redeem us, granting us meaning and the potential to save the world.
According to the script, what does the character of the underground man from 'Notes From The Underground' represent in terms of love?
-The underground man represents the suffering that arises from an inability to love. His character is depicted as being filled with resentment, envy, and hatred due to his deprivation of the ability to love others.
In the context of Dostoevsky's works, how is the concept of 'narcissistic love' portrayed?
-Narcissistic love in Dostoevsky's works is portrayed as a form of love that is self-centered and seeks to control or dominate the beloved for the lover's own benefit, often resulting in disaster.
What is the significance of the character Luzhin from 'Crime and Punishment' in illustrating Dostoevsky's views on egoistic love?
-Luzhin is significant as he exemplifies egoistic love, where he loves Duna not for her own sake but for the control he can exert over her, showing how love can be corrupted by a desire for power and superiority.
How does Dostoevsky explore the idea of sacrificial love in his novels?
-Dostoevsky explores sacrificial love through characters who give themselves over to their beloved, often facing great personal cost. This type of love is depicted as pure and transformative, even when it leads to the lover's suffering.
What role does Alyosha play in 'The Brothers Karamazov' in terms of representing Dostoevsky's ideal of love?
-Alyosha represents Dostoevsky's ideal of love through his unwavering compassion and lack of judgment towards others, regardless of their actions. He embodies the selfless, universal love that Dostoevsky believes has the power to redeem and transform individuals.
How does the script connect Dostoevsky's personal religious views to his philosophy of love?
-The script connects Dostoevsky's religious views to his philosophy of love by highlighting the influence of Christian concepts such as self-sacrifice and universal love, as seen in the character of Christ and the teachings of the Elder Zosima.
What is the concept of 'active love' as discussed in the script in relation to Dostoevsky's views?
-Active love, as discussed in the script, refers to the kind of love that requires effort, labor, and fortitude. It is the love that is willing to give without resentment or entitlement, embodying Dostoevsky's belief in the transformative power of selfless love.
How does the script interpret Dostoevsky's belief in the potential of love to save the world?
-The script interprets Dostoevsky's belief as the idea that love, specifically selfless and universal love, has the power to cut through people's insecurities and self-destruction, leading to a brighter future for humanity through examples of kindness and compassion.
What is the significance of the quote from the New Testament used in the script regarding love?
-The quote from the New Testament is significant as it encapsulates the qualities of love that Dostoevsky admired and advocated for in his philosophy. It serves to reinforce the idea that love is patient, kind, and selfless, and that these qualities have the potential to transform individuals and society.
Outlines
🔍 The Philosophy of Love in Dostoevsky's Works
This paragraph explores Fyodor Dostoevsky's deep and complex views on love, as depicted in his novels and writings. It emphasizes love as a central theme in Dostoevsky's work, with a focus on the suffering that arises from an inability to love, as illustrated by the character of the Underground Man in 'Notes from the Underground.' The paragraph discusses how love can both compel individuals to destructive actions and offer redemption and meaning, suggesting that love is a fundamental aspect of humanity's existence.
😔 The Consequences of Lovelessness
This section delves into the torment of individuals who are deprived of the ability to love, as exemplified by the Elder Zossima's quote from 'The Brothers Karamazov.' The character of the Underground Man is used to illustrate the self-destructive nature of a life devoid of love, leading to a state of misery and self-hatred. The narrative shows how spite and cruelty can turn into self-punishment, highlighting the importance of love in Dostoevsky's philosophy and the misery that ensues without it.
🤔 The Egoist's Twisted Love
The paragraph examines the concept of narcissistic love, where individuals seek to control or dominate their loved ones for selfish reasons. It uses the character of Luzhin from 'Crime and Punishment' and a short story 'The Meek One' to illustrate how love can become a tool for manipulation and power. The paragraph discusses the disastrous outcomes of such relationships and the suffering they cause, emphasizing the destructive potential of love when it is corrupted by egoism.
👨❤️👨 Love and Sacrifice
This section discusses the idea of sacrificial love, drawing on the teachings of Julian of Norwich and Dostoevsky's interpretation of Christ's self-sacrifice. The paragraph contrasts egoistic love with selfless love, highlighting the dangers and the transformative power of love that is willing to give without expectation of return. It uses 'The Idiot' and 'The Brothers Karamazov' to show how characters embody this selfless love, even in the face of betrayal and hardship.
🌏 The Universal Lover's Vision
The paragraph introduces the concept of universal love, or 'agape,' and Dostoevsky's aspiration for a world where love is extended to all people without discrimination. It discusses the idea of treating everyone as brothers and sisters, serving them with enthusiasm and gratitude. The paragraph reflects on the challenges of this philosophy and the potential for love to redeem and transform individuals, as seen in the characters of Alyosha and Zosima.
🕊️ Love as the Salvation of Humanity
This section encapsulates Dostoevsky's belief in the redemptive power of love, suggesting that it can serve as the salvation of humanity. It discusses the active love that Zosima speaks of in 'The Brothers Karamazov,' which involves serving others and sharing in their suffering. The paragraph connects this idea to Dostoevsky's broader philosophical and political views, emphasizing the importance of empathy, compassion, and the recognition of shared humanity.
🌟 The Hope for a Loving World
The final paragraph reflects on Dostoevsky's hope for a world transformed by love, as inspired by the teachings of Christ and the example set by characters like Alyosha and Prince Myshkin. It discusses the potential of love to unite humanity and overcome violence, resentment, and retribution. The paragraph concludes with a personal note on the power of literature to inspire and guide moral behavior, and the enduring message of love from the New Testament.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Love
💡Hell
💡Selfishness
💡Suffering
💡Nihilism
💡Existentialism
💡Self-sacrifice
💡Resentment
💡Redemption
💡Universal Love
Highlights
The concept of hell as the suffering from an inability to love, according to Fyodor Dostoevsky's philosophy.
Love as a central theme in Dostoevsky's works, exploring its power to both destroy and redeem.
The character of the underground man from 'Notes From The Underground' as an example of self-destructive actions resulting from a lack of love.
Dostoevsky's view on the unloving life being not worth living, as depicted in 'The Brothers Karamazov'.
The idea that love can compel us to commit heinous actions, as seen in various Dostoevsky's characters.
The transformation of love into a tool for control or domination in Dostoevsky's novels.
The character of Luan from 'Crime and Punishment' as an example of narcissistic love.
Dostoevsky's critique of intellectual circles for their egoistic love of the people of Russia.
The concept of sacrificial love as the purest form of affection, as seen in 'The Idiot'.
The character of Alyosha in 'The Brothers Karamazov' as an embodiment of selfless love.
The demand for active love that requires labor and fortitude, as opposed to passive or dreamy love.
Dostoevsky's belief in the transformative power of selfless love, even when it leads to personal suffering.
The idea of universal love or 'Agape' as a solution to the world's problems, according to Dostoevsky.
The 'Dream of a Ridiculous Man' as an exploration of a world based on universal selfless love.
Dostoevsky's vision for a future of love between all people, inspired by the teachings of Christ.
The importance of recognizing the potential for redemption in every character, according to Dostoevsky's novels.
The New Testament's influence on Dostoevsky's view of love as patient, kind, and not self-seeking.
Transcripts
what is hell I maintain it is the
suffering of an inability to love
Theodore dovi is known as a historic
thinker on many many topics in his
novels and articles he discusses God
morality nihilism and existentialism but
today I want to focus on an often
neglected part of dov's overall
philosophy his ideas about love because
for this Russian author love was a
subject of endless Fascination and it
crops up in almost every one of his
works dovi is adept at displaying how
love can compel us to commit heinous
self-destructive actions but also how it
can redeem us grant us meaning and
ultimately even save the world and if
that's not a reason to keep watching I
don't know what is get ready to learn
how love can kill what passion has to do
with politics and why for dovi love was
the fundamental redeeming quality of all
Humanity as always bear in mind this is
just my interpretation of dovi and you
are totally free to disagree also there
will be spoilers ahead for many of dov's
novels though I will do my best to avoid
giving too much away on major plot
points but with that out of the way
let's begin by exploring the darkest
aspect of dov's philosophy of love what
happens to us when we are deprived of it
one the unloving life is not worth
living the quote at the start of this
video comparing hell to an inability to
love comes from the Elder zosa in in
dov's magnum opus the brothers karamazov
according to him the quickest and most
potent way a human can plunge themselves
into unimaginable torment is by cutting
off their ability to love others
deprived of this love they will begin to
Fester like an infected wound as
resentment envy and hatred fills the
place where affection could have been
and nowhere is this more evidence than
in the character of the underground man
famously dov's Nolla Notes From The
Underground begins with the main
character declaring himself sick
spiteful and unattractive and throughout
his story he narrates the various ways
he sought to enhance the misery of other
people he vividly describes the sick
pleasure he took in a toothache because
he could make the lives of everyone
around him that bit worse with his loud
and Theatrical moans and complaints he
says that in his position as a civil
servant he would exercise his Petty
power on the people around him in a
needlessly cruel manner he would would
care nothing for the feelings of other
people and would even go out of his way
to make their lives worse just to savor
their suffering his entire philosophy
can be summed up in the following phrase
Let the world go to hell but I should
always have my tea of course this
philosophy is hardly a successful one
and the underground man ends up in
profound misery as a result of it the
core of the underground man's suffering
is that he has absolutely no fellow
feeling for other people and it is
tragically understandable how he has
become this way to to hear him tell it
he only has cruel and disloyal so-called
friends a meager pension and no reason
to carry on living in such a situation
it is easy to see how someone could lose
their sense of Love entirely but this
lack of Love Dooms him all the same ever
eager to present complex psychological
profiles dovi shows how this aggressive
spite eventually morphs into the
underground man's way of punishing
himself towards the end of the Nolla he
begins to befriend a poor and
downtrodden prostitute named Liza and it
seems like there might be the first
smatterings of genuine affection here
they have a long conversation where the
underground man shocks her with his
brutal and cruel honesty but then
briefly softens inviting her to visit
him at his home but when she does appear
and offers out a hand of friendship and
companionship he suddenly changes his
tune berating her and insulting her
until she leaves now he is not just
unloving out of lack of opportunity it
has become a direct selfharm Choice he
soon regrets his cruelty and begins to
run after Liza but at the last moment he
decides it was better to spread his
bitter resentments to another person now
she will know the truth as well that the
world is not loving or kind and it never
will be the hot brand of his insults
will turn her Against Humanity as well
and a new underground man will be
created where before there was such
promise of selflessness and Redemption
the underground man has become so deep
in his hatred of himself and the world
that he does not know how to love
anymore it is like an atrophied muscle
he has lost control over and here we get
potentially the saddest line in the
entire story Liza certainly did fully
understand that I was a Despicable man
and what was worse incapable of loving
her the underground man is so torn apart
inside with the insults and injustices
of the world and so unable to look past
the malays of his own self-hatred that
he is permanently deprived of Love thus
he dwells in a dovi in Hell mourning the
loss of what could have made his life
worthwhile and when dovy equates
lovelessness with hell he is not talking
merely about romantic love some of the
happiest characters in his other novels
are contented monastics filled with a
gentle love for everyone but it is the
all-encompassing totalizing completeness
of the underground man's hatred that
Dooms him because it is not just poor
Liza he despises it is all of mankind
every indignity or suffering thrown at
him becomes another twisted smile he can
curl in the face of the next person he
passes he is the very definition of a
hurt person hurting people and he is
also the starkest example of just how
important love is in dov's overall
Philosophy for some thinkers like Plato
love is a wonderful compliment to a good
life but is ultimately subordinate to
more important matters like virtue and
the pursuit of Truth for others like
nature interpersonal love is often
looked down upon with him remarking that
very few great thinkers have ever been
married the Romantic Poets often
depicted love as a powerful motivating
and destabilizing force throwing our
souls into torment and Ecstasy with
every passing moment but Notes From The
Underground demonstrates that for dovi
love is not just powerful not just
valuable but is an indispensable
component of a worthwhile life without
any love at all no compassion for a
partner or affection for a friend or
even a loose sense of commonality with
the rest of the human race we are doomed
to be miserable and despise ourselves to
ask someone to live without loving
others might as well be asking them to
live without the use of oxygen for those
of you familiar with Buddhist philosophy
you might recognize some parallels here
with the idea of loving kindness and the
unskillful emotions I also want to focus
on dov's choice to say that hell is the
inability to love he seems to agree with
Aristotle here that the greater part of
Love is in the loving it might be
heartbreaking and isolating for us to
feel that we are not loved but to use
this as a reason to never love others is
to needlessly increase our suffering a h
hundredfold it is the genius of dovi to
argue that our philosophies should begin
with love rather than getting to them
further down the line and Notes From The
Underground is perhaps the darkest
demonstration of this terrifying idea
and as we move forward to looking at
some of the less Savory ways love can
manifest we should bear in mind that
dovi thinks that a rejection of love
love entirely is the worst situation of
all this is why he equates lovelessness
with hell abandoning our natural
affection for other people Dooms us
entirely it cannot get any worse than
this but anyway enough of my gloomy
rantings we can now slowly move out of
hell and begin to explore some of the
ways dovi thinks the noble emotion of
love can be morphed into something much
uglier how it can turn into a wish to
control or to dominate or otherwise
bring out the most violent aspects of
the human psyche let's look at the
people who talk about love but believe
only in ego if you want to help me make
more videos like this then please
consider subscribing to my Channel or my
patreon the links are in the description
two the love of the egoist in modern
parlament the term narcissistic love has
become pretty commonplace various
definitions abound but they all orbit
around one key Insight some lovers are
only out for themselves knowingly or not
they aren't truly loving for the sake of
those they love but instead for some
selfish benefit this might be to plug
some Gap in their self-image or from
hedonistic desire or simply out of spite
but however this manifests dovi normally
envisions it ending in disaster and
moreover he sees this type of Love
everywhere in public life perhaps the
most well-known example of this type of
Love is in the character of Luan from
Crime and Punishment Luan is a lawyer
betrothed to Mari Duna the sister of our
protagonist rasnov sorry that's a lot of
names to take in however it quickly
becomes clear that Luan loves Duna
purely for the control he can exert over
her he talks about how he has always
wished to marry a poor woman down on her
luck as this encourages her to remain
constantly grateful to him for
magnanimously agreeing to take her in
just when she was least desirable he
thinks that women make much better wives
you see when they cannot survive without
their husbands he becomes terrified when
Duna looks like she might come into some
significant money because he does not
really want to freely love and be loved
freely in return what he desires most is
to control his beloved moreover when he
feels like he is losing this control he
turns spiteful and bitter attempting to
ruin raskolnikov's reputation as a petty
form of Revenge today we would probably
not hesitate in calling Luan somewhat of
a narcissist later dovi would explore
this ugly variant on love in even
greater detail in his terrifying short
story the meek one here he portrays how
a narcissistic and domineering husband
mentally tortures his own wife until she
eventually decides to end her life dovi
describes every inch of the man's
control he would deprive her of
affection and have her beg it from him
piece by piece he would attempt to
uncover dirt on her so he always had
something to hold above her head worst
of all he always presented things so he
could hold the moral High ground and
look down on her from it not letting her
forget a single one of her faults again
we see how a twisted and malformed
version of Love Can manifest from a
spiteful and controlling person in this
case the egoist does not truly care
about their beloved but instead wants to
see a glorified image of themselves
reflected back at them they want to
prove that they are worthy of worship
and affection Superior to everyone else
around them especially the one they are
supposed to love both lusion and this
husband managed to come across as
simultaneously repulsive and deeply
pitiable they want selfless devotion
they want to be loved but they refuse to
give it themselves as a result rather
than receiving the free affection of
another agent they must extract it bit
by bit through numerous Avenues of
coercion I would wager we all know
people who love a little bit like this
for dovi these people are also suffering
from a certain inability to love though
they are not quite in the living hell of
the underground man they are ultimately
still cut off from True joy and this
begins theme for dov's philosophy the
more self-centered a love is the less
Joy it can bring both for the lover and
the Beloved this will eventually
culminate in him praising a
semi-religious Selfless Love but we'll
save that for later in the video it is
also worth noting that a points both
Luan and this husband Express seemingly
quite deep feelings of self-loathing
this continues the idea that dovi
expressed in Notes From The Underground
how self-hatred can very quickly
transform into a total lack of affection
for anyone dovi also explores how
possessiveness in love can bring out its
destructive and explosive dimensions for
instance in the brother's karamazov much
of Dimitri karamazovs suffering is
caused by his lust filled attachments to
a woman named grushenka in an attempt to
win her over he betrays almost every one
of his principles he deceives his fiance
spends other people's money and beats
his own father in a jealous rage though
Dimitri's love is not outright
narcissistic or manipulative it is still
possessive and envious and without
spoiling too much this leads to pretty
disastrous consequences likewise in the
idiot we see jealousy slowly Drive the
character of regoin insane and this
culminates in a horrific and violent act
against a woman who needed more than
anything for someone to be kind to her
in both cases it is not that these
lovers set out to use the object of
their affection egoistically instead it
is that their fear and their self-image
got in the way they may not have wanted
to control but they itely wanted to
possess and dovi paints this drop of
selfishness transforming pure love into
something potentially violent and
terrifying to Branch out from romantic
examples we also see dovi criticizing
the intellectuals of his time period for
their egoistic love of the people of
Russia amongst the intelligencia of his
time he saw that almost everyone would
profess this deep affection for the poor
and needy but that this rarely extended
to actually spending time with them and
treating them as equals instead much
like the narcissistic lovers in his
novels the intellectual Circles of St
Petersburg would insist that they
already knew what the peasantry of
Russia needed and thought it was their
job to Enlighten them very few things
seem to make dovi as angry as this
condescending attitude for him behind
all of these huttin words was a
fundamental lack of respect for the
traditions and way of life of the
Russian peasantry which in many ways
dovi thought was superior to the
westernized academic Circle of the
Cities this thought culminates in his
astonishing novel demons where he skewes
the members of the intelligencia as
fundamentally self-interested he accuses
them of really just wanting to use
whatever sentiments they deem necessary
to gain control and power and of
thinking they knew how the peasantry
should live their lives better than they
did here we also begin to see another
theme in dov's view on love he not only
views it as of extreme interpersonal
significance but it also becomes a key
part of his wider philosophical and
political views as time goes on the idea
we see running through all of the
examples of this section is that love
can become corrupted through a sense of
superiority and a lack of respect for
the agency of the Beloved and this makes
sense given the particulars of dov's
religious views for him part of what
made Christ's love for mankind so moving
is that he was fully human he was not a
spirit standing above us dictating
orders but instead suffering alongside
us and delivering his message as a
god-made man I am not Christian myself
but I don't think you have to be to see
the beauty in this idea dovi constantly
points out how our desire for Love Can
mingle with our fears and insecurities
to create this noxious mixture of
condescension and control and that this
threatens to strangle what could have
been a joyous kind of love this
poisoning of kindness and affection by a
wish to control also forms the backbone
of much of his critiques of other
religious movements for instance Roman
Catholicism and protestantism and even
some Orthodox churches and I think this
warning is worth listening to for our
own lives how often do we taint our own
love with some form of egoism or
selfishness sure we might not be total
narcissists or believe that we are
fundamentally Superior to our partner
but how often do we think we love
someone for who they are only for it to
emerge later that we may have partly
loved them for what they could do for us
it is a difficult question to pose but
one well worth asking when something as
important as love is on the table but
then this also begs the question how do
we love in a way that is not so egoistic
well dooi has a surprising answer three
love and sacrifice in the 14th century
the English Mystic Julian of Norwich
fell ill with a fever and began to
experience Visions a devout Christian
she experienced Revelations About the
Passion Jesus felt for Humanity as he
died on the cross sacrificing himself to
save our souls in one of these Visions
Christ tells her it is endless
satisfaction to me that I ever suffered
passion for thee and if I might suffer
more I would suffer more the phrasing
here is incredibly important for Julian
Christ did not just suffer because it
was necessary he did so as a loving and
willing Act of self-sacrifice so great
was his Devotion to mankind that he was
not only able to Bear suffering for us
but was glad to do so just like how you
will often hear parents not just say
that they would die for children but
that they would do so without a hint of
regret or resentment in their hearts
again I am not personally religious but
I have had this line running through my
head for months now because it is one of
the most insightful meditations on
Selfless Love I have ever come across
and it also summarizes in a single
sentence what dovi thinks the purest
kind of affection can amount to a key
theme in many of dov's later works is
the idea of loving through sacrifice
this forms a very clear contrast from
the egoistic kind of love we explored in
the previous section whereas the selfish
lover attempts to extract from their
Beloved the sacrificial lover intends to
give themselves over to them as if as an
offering obviously such a move is
fraught with danger and despite praising
this sort of sacrificial love dovi does
not shy away from how it can end
horribly arguably his novel The Idiot is
all about how a kind man who loves in a
wholehearted and selfless way is driven
mad by the cruel and cowardly behavior
of other people the titular character
Prince mishkin spends much of the novel
attempting to help the Fallen woman
nstasia philipov and her troubled and
Reckless lover rosu sorry if I've
completely butchered the pronunciations
there more than anything else he wants
them to see their own value bring them
out of their cynicism and love them he
even sacrifices his prospects with the
woman he truly wants to be with to
achieve this and forgives rosen's murder
attempt on him and yet in the end it is
all in vain I won't totally spoil it
here but suffice to say the innocent
Prince michan's attempts blow up in his
face and he has left a Broken Man sent
abroad for extensive medical treatment
in an attempt to recover his psyche he
gave all he had in Acts of Selfless Love
and yet dovi paints him as suffering for
it the question dangling in the air is
should he have been so kind should he
have been so loving and dov's answer is
still unequivocally yes we get a glimpse
of the true radicalism of his loving
philosophy here he implores us to love
others selflessly even as it's going
horribly wrong for us for him this is
what it truly means to be
self-sacrificial in our love and let's
be absolutely clear this is a tall order
the great Russian is asking us to
perform and it leaves us incredibly
vulnerable to exploitation and
manipulation but as we shall see in the
next section his demands only become
more extreme we see a similar kind of
Selfless Love in the character of alosa
in the brothers karamazov he is the most
spiritual of the three brothers and his
most remarkable trait is his complete
unwillingness to judge other people or
consider them beneath him in any way all
throughout the novel he encounters
people who have done Terrible Things
pursued selfish ends and committed only
scant acts of kindness in their lives
and yet each time despite all the good
he is doing in the world he will
continually affirm that he is not better
than them instead he shows them an
unrelenting and indiscriminate kind of
love this comes out most strongly in his
meeting with grushenka another of dov's
Fallen women despite her poor reputation
and lowly societal Position alosa will
not consider himself Superior to her and
indeed at points even act as if he is
beneath her confronted with genuine
egalitarian affection and understanding
grenka Spirits are restored and she
actually begins to change as a person
for the better he does the same thing
for many others over the course of the
story alosa will take someone who has
been made rule by self-judgment or the
Judgment of others and he will extend a
hand to them but this is not the
condescending wish to save that dovi was
so critical of in the previous section
this is instead a genuine brotherly love
that emanates from alosia like an aura
this is the ideal sort of love for dooi
Endless uncond descending and selfless
and he admits that this is incredibly
demanding in the same novel The Elder
Zoser a much- regarded monastic talks
about the difference between active love
and a kind kind of dreamy love whereas
it is easy for anyone to fantasize about
Grand romantic gestures or a general
affection for mankind or to say that
they love someone from the bottom of
their heart active love is different and
much more difficult zosima admits that
it is Harsh and Dreadful and requires
labor and fortitude it is the kind of
love that is willing to give and give
and give without a hint of resentment or
entitlement I would argue we see this
kind of love in small ways everywhere
from the ground grand father who
painfully kneels on brittle bones to
play with his delighted granddaughter to
the wife standing by her husband as he's
ravaged with illness it is in the eyes
of the dog who leaps to the defense of
their owner and in The Last Breath of
the soldier taking a bullet for their
friend but to have this active love be
the guiding force of your life to be
totally devoted to others willing to
sacrifice anything for them and actively
loving them every second of every day
that is the sort of love zosa and dovi
demand of us and at points he says it is
the highest virtue a person can have it
is the Cornerstone of dov's faith and he
finds its apotheosis in the image of
Christ dying for us all still crying out
for his captors to be forgiven and all
throughout dov's novels we see the
redeeming power of being loved like this
in crime and punishment it is the
selfless and Noble love of Sonia that
helps raskolnikov ReDiscover his ailen
conscience and become a better man in
the idiot it is what convinces nstasia
Philip POA if only for a moment that she
might have worth as a person and in the
brothers karamazov alyosha's love
consistently transforms the people
around him from callous and uncaring to
kind and generous for dostoevski this is
what makes Selfless Love worthwhile even
when it leaves us vulnerable and
sometimes goes disastrously wrong for
him it has the power to cut through
people's insecurity and self-destruction
and make them see that they are worthy
of respect and reveal to them the kind
of person that they could be if they
truly tried one of the wonderful things
about dov's novels is that almost no one
is portrayed as Beyond Redemption and
everyone has the potential to become
something truly good If Only They had
this treasured Kind of Love No Doubt
such a love is incredibly rare but if
even a fraction of what dovi says about
its transformative effects are true it
may be well worth striving for but if
you thought that this was a stretch
dov's demands are about to get much more
extreme because now he wants us to take
this selfless sacrificial almost
sacramental love and expand it to
Encompass the whole of humanity four the
universal lover in ancient Greece people
would use the word Agape to describe the
sort of universal Divine love that
Christians would later attribute to God
this was part of a whole set of
different types of loving that included
AOS or erotic love and filia or
brotherly love and dostoevsky's radical
suggestion is that we bring about a a
world in which there is universal agape
and filia that is affection and
brotherly love for all he himself seems
to recognize that this idea is a little
bit ambitious he even calls one of his
final short stories exploring this idea
the dream of a ridiculous man here he
explores someone going through a brief
but intense existential crisis who
emerges on the other side with a
completely new outlook on life the man
discovers a wish to work tirelessly in
service to a future where we all love
one another selflessly and openly saying
that this will be the salvation of the
world and of course everyone else calls
him ridiculous there are many
theological themes that come up in
dostoevski there's the problem of evil
the issue of morality without God and so
much more but one that perhaps appears
more often than any other is the
doctrine of loving your neighbor as
yourself and this becomes increasingly
prominent in his later writings in the
brothers karamazov the Elder zosa gives
us perhaps the closest approximation of
dostoevsky's own philosophy he says that
we should love life and encourage all
others to do the same and moreover that
this must be the energetic active love
that we spoke about in the previous
section we must behave like alosia and
seek to serve those around us as if they
were our brothers essentially dovi wants
us to emulate the behaviors of the
previous section but not just towards
our friends or our partners but anyone
that we come across and moreover to do
all of this not begrudgingly or early
but with endless enthusiasm and energy
and even gratitude this also goes some
way to making sense of what dostoevski
means when he says we are not just
responsible for our own sin but also the
sins of everyone else he is encouraging
us to treat the hardship of life like a
shared burden and to extend empathy and
compassion towards anyone's suffering
even if that suffering is of their own
creation and to recognize we're doing
this not from a place of superiority but
because it is a privilege to serve this
also explains how dosv can portray
characters like the underground man with
such Exquisite tenderness while still
not pretending that they are not
responsible for their actions dovi is
doing in a literary way what Jesus or
alosa do in a literal way he is sharing
in the trials and tribulations of his
characters without removing their agency
and through his writings he encourages
us to do the same to people suffering in
our own lives it is a little bit like
schopenhauer's idea that we are a
community of fellow sufferers dooi wants
us to recognize the pain of other people
and extend our compassion even to those
who are cruel or self-destructive and
this attitude closely aligns with dov's
wider philosophy in a speech delivered a
year before his death in celebration of
the poet Pushkin dovi discusses his
vision for the future of Russia and the
world just as Prince Michigan or alosia
or Christ serve as examples to light our
way to selflessness and Universal
kindness he wanted Russia itself to
become a symbol of universal Global
Brotherhood saying to become a Russian
fully means only to become a brother of
all men to become if you will a
universal man Doo's ridiculous dream is
of a future of love between all people
where we are all a bit more like alosha
mushkin and Christ where we would take
up the demands of a totalizing active
and Universal love and follow it to the
ends of the Earth he is perhaps one of
the only authors in history to take the
Christian commandment to love all people
so seriously for dostoevski violence and
resentment and retribution would never
get to the root of the problems we face
as a species he thought that instead of
leading by conquest or military might a
brighter future could be brought about
by examples of selfless people saying
our destiny is universality won Not By
The Sword but by the strength of
Brotherhood and our fraternal aspiration
to reunite mankind this again makes a
lot of sense dov's religion for him the
most impactful person in history was
Jesus Christ he accomplished more than
any General transformed the face of much
of the world and yet did so through the
power of his message of total love sure
this idea has been corrupted and used
for all sorts of Nefarious ends but
dostoevski still believes hopes and
dreams that we might be able to
recapture it viewed in this light some
of dov's characters like zosima alosha
Mish and more can form powerful examples
for us to follow personally I find that
part of the power of great literature is
that it lends a certain dignity to ways
of living when we are struggling to
follow our own values we can turn to a
literary character we admire and ask
what they would do and suddenly we don't
feel so much like a fool I have
certainly noticed this myself when I am
struggling to be kind or when it seems
to be backfiring on me I quite often
call to mind the humble alosa or the
poor and loving Prince Michigan and it
certainly helps Soothe My burgeoning
resentment it helps me realize that love
is not stupid or ridiculous it might not
always go our way and there are plenty
of kind people that get taken advantage
of but in my very limited experience it
remains infinitely better than the
cynical alternative I still have a long
way to go to live up to even a minuscule
fraction of this kind of love but I'm
eternally grateful to have these
characters to help me on my way but
whoever we are cynic or Optimist
religious or atheist we can certainly
learn a lot from this extraordinary
Russian thinker and who knows maybe he's
right maybe love truly can save the
world because to quote the New Testament
that dovi valued so much love is patient
love is kind it does not envy it does
not boast it is not proud it does not
dishonor others it is not self-seeking
it is not easily angered it keeps no
record of wrongs love does not Delight
in evil but rejoices with the truth it
always protects always trusts always
hopes always perseveres I have to admit
I don't know if dostoevski is right but
I can say I really hope he is and if you
want to explore more of dov's philosophy
then click here to see my analysis of
perhaps his most famous work Crime and
Punishment and stick around for more on
thinking to improve your life
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