Crime And Punishment

The philosophy behind Crime and Punishment
The two BIG kahunas being Existentialism and Nihilism
Nihilism was a philosophical position developed in Russia in the 1850s and 1860s, known for“negating more,” in the words of Lebezyatnikov. It rejected family and societal bonds and emotional and aesthetic concerns in favor of a strict materialism, or the idea that there is no “mind”or “soul”outside of the physical world. Linked to nihilism is utilitarianism, or the idea that moral decisions should be based on the rule of the greatest happiness for the largest number of people. Raskolnikovoriginally justifies the murder of Alyona on utilitarian grounds, claiming that a “louse” has been removed from society. Whether or not the murder is actually a utilitarian act, Raskolnikov is certainly anihilist; completely unsentimental for most of the novel, he cares nothing about the emotions of others. Similarly, he utterly disregards social conventions that run counter to the austereinteractions that he desires with the world. However, at the end of the novel, as Raskolnikov discovers love, he throws off his nihilism. Through this action, the novel condemns nihilism as empty (spark notescant use this MOFO)
Slavophilia was an intellectual movement originating from 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed upon values and institutions derived from its early history.Slavophiles were especially opposed to the influences of Western Europe in Russia.[
-Dostoyevsky began to write the novel in the first person singular; that is, in the form of a confession. Heintended it to be "a psychological study of crime"
-Dostoevsky wrote Crime and Punishment in 1866 to illustrate how suffering leads to redemption of a lost soul. The book’s anti-hero, Raskolnikov, commitsan irrational murder. Dostoevsky did not want to trivialize the crime, but instead wanted to explore the process of redemption. Unlike Camus’ The Stranger, Raskolnikov’s crime is meant from the...