Dostoevsky the Thinker [Hardcover]

James P. Scanlan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

For all his distance from formal philosophy, Fyodor Dostoevsky was one of the most philosophical of writers. In works from fictional masterpieces to little-known nonfiction prose, he grappled with the ultimate questions about the nature of humankind. His novels are peopled by characters who dramatize the fierce debates that preoccupied the Russian intelligentsia during the second half of the nineteenth century. What was the philosophy of Dostoevsky? How does reading this literary giant from a new perspective add to our understanding of him and of Russian culture? In this remarkable book, a leading authority on Russian thought presents the first comprehensive account of Dostoevsky’s philosophical outlook. Drawing on the writer’s novels and, more so than other scholars, on his essays, letters, and notebooks, James P. Scanlan examines Dostoevsky’s beliefs. The nonfiction pieces make possible new interpretations of some of the author’s most controversial works of fiction, including Notes from Underground. Dostoevsky’s thought, Scanlan explains, was shaped above all by its anthropocentrism, its struggle to define the essence of humanity. All of the subjects the writer addressed—including religion, ethics, aesthetics, history, the state, and the Russian nation—provided clues to the mystery of what it means to be human. Scanlan demonstrates conclusively that Dostoevsky’s philosophical views were more solidly grounded and systematic than have been imagined and cannot be dismissed as the notions of an irrationalist. Scanlan also discusses the flaws and weaknesses in Dostoevsky’s thought, in particular his controversial notion that Russia is the one "God-bearing" nation. This belief—that Russia has a messianic role to play in world history—has gained renewed popularity among its citizens, for whom Dostoevsky has long been regarded as a thinker of supreme importance.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Frank completes his work on Dostoevsky's life with this fifth volume, which covers the years 1871-81. In his final decade, Dostoevsky wrote A Raw Youth, Diary of a Writer, and his masterpiece, The Brothers Karamazov. He also acquired the fame he had sought. Frank explores his relationships with fellow writers Turgenev and Tolstoy and his feelings about Russia. He also details his appearance at the Pushkin Festival a year before his death, where he proclaimed that Russia's destiny was universality obtained not by the sword but by a brotherly striving toward the reunification of humankind. A fitting conclusion to the previous award-winning volumes, this final volume in Frank's biography is simply magnificent. Both works offer a brilliant and necessary examination of the great Russian writer and Christian humanist. Ron Ratliff, Kansas State Univ., Manhattan
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Dostoevsky the Thinker is beautifully written and thoroughly researched and organized so that the edifice of Dostoevsky's thought grows organically from chapter to chapter. Scanlan takes his subject seriously as a systematic thinker and a literary creator of genius. At the end we simply see the living Dostoevsky at the door.--Caryl Emerson, Princeton University

""Dostoevsky the Thinker offers a fresh and persuasive view of Dostoevsky's thought, which it treats with deserved respect and critical distance, neglecting neither Dostoevsky's coherence and seriousness, nor his 'intellectual untidiness.' Organized around an elegant set of categories, its argument is clear, accessible, and well-grounded in the extensive scholarship on Dostoevsky's thought. It merits the attention of any reader of Dostoevsky.""--William Todd, Harvard University

""Dostoevsky was not only a novelist of ideas but an extremely influential and important journalistic commentator as well who wrote hundreds of pages expressing his ideas directly. James P. Scanlan does an admirable job of putting them together coherently, occasionally referring to the novels as well, even though justifiably critical of many of Dostoevsky's views. No one has accomplished such a task before, and the book is a major contribution to Dostoevsky studies as well as indispensable to all devotees of the writer. --Joseph Frank, Stanford University --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801439949
• ISBN-13: 978-0801439940
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,757,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Library Journal, July 2, 2005

By 

reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dostoevsky the Thinker (Hardcover)

These two works add immensely to our understanding of Dostoevsky, though they have quite different purposes: Frank completes his monumental biography of Dostoevsky, while Scanlan examines the Russian writer's philosophical thought. Scanlan (emeritus, philosophy, Ohio State Univ.) argues that while much has been said about Dostoevsky as a writer, he has rarely been treated as a philosopher. Yet through his writings, he explored a variety of philosophical issues, primarily concerning the nature of humankind. Scanlan studies Dostoevsky's nationalism, opposition to rational egotism, and beliefs about our eternal souls, moral agency, and aesthetic needs. Of course, Dostoevsky's philosophy was framed within a Christian worldview, and Scanlan does excellent work discussing Dostoevsky's ideas in terms of his religious faith. Readers wanting to learn more about the thought of one of Russia's great writers will find this work essential.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dostoevsky: Novelist and a prophetic Visionary, April 20, 2010

By 

Dag Stomberg (St. Andrews, Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dostoevsky the Thinker (Hardcover)

The enormous spiritual power of Russia's people was Dostoevsky's
obsession, and it effected him to such a degree as to form rational
and logical discourses. Professor Scanlan gives the reader an
appreciation of Dostoevsky's thoughts as they were in the 19th Century and arguably how some may apply to the 21st Century. His
thinking about enlightened arguments are more universal and the
fictional characters do expound in depth virtually seasoned wisdom.

The book does provide a look at Dostoevsky's philosophical
strengths and weaknesses!

Dag Stomberg
St. Andrews, Scotland