Dostoevsky and the Affirmation of Life

Dostoevsky and the Affirmation of Life reconstructs Dostoevsky's philosophy of life through an in-depth analysis of his five greatest works: Notes from the Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Possessed, and The Brothers Karamazov. This book deals with the fundamental issue in Dostoevsky's opus neglected by all of his commentators: How can we affirm life and preserve a healthy optimism in the face of an increasingly troublesome reality? The main task of the book is to show that Dostoevsky offers a philosophically defensible answer to this question. The grounds on which Dostoevsky bases his affirmation of life and how it can be reconciled with the presence of evil in the world are: (i) Dostoevsky's realization that evil is inherent in the human condition, because it is part of the same drive that leads us to strive toward greatness and heroism by transgressing existing boundaries and opening new frontiers, and (ii) his conception of life as a gift, which leads to a renewed appreciation of beauty and love through Christian spirituality. The relevance of this book is amplified by the fact that the problem that motives Dostoevsky's novels is also one of the central problems of our time. The text of the book itself is written in straightforward, non-technical language which presupposes only a basic familiarity with Dostoevsky's works. This style will make Dostoevsky and the Affirmation of Life accessible to both students and teachers of ethics, literature, and religion.