One word that has come to represent the mid-18th century Enlightenment movement is “Reason”. The French philosophes believed that reason could provide critical, informed, scientific solutions to social issues and problems, and essentially improve the human condition. Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground is one of the most famous anti-Enlightenment novels for its rejection of these very notions. Through this novel he showed what he believed were gaps in the idea that the mind could be freed from ignorance through the application of reason, and the rejection of the idea that humankind could achieve a utopian existence as a result. The story revolves around the thoughts and rants of an unnamed character that we shall refer to as “The Underground Man.” In Dostoevsky’s time, the term "man" or "men" referred to all humankind, and the Underground Man seems symbolic of what could happen to mankind should the endless application of reason take over. Dostoevsky seems to be making the statement that rationality is indeed useful for analyzing situations but is ultimately damaging to the self if focused on constantly. Reason does not, as many Enlightenment thinkers believed, free man but instead takes something away from the essential human existence. It reduces us to something that can be scientifically explained, forcing us to lose a fundamental piece of what makes us human in the process: “All human actions will then, of course, be classified according to these laws – mathematically, like a logarithm table, up to 108,000 – and entered in a special almanac…with such precision that there will no longer be any actions or adventures in the world” (24). The Underground Man suggests that the one “most advantageous advant... ... middle of paper ... .... This complexity causes him to doubt every single decision and make any type of action impossible, which is why he believes only narrow-minded people who are not able to question their actions are the only ones who can act with confidence. Taking all this into consideration, it seems impossible that excessive reason and consciousness will eventually lead to progress – it will do just the opposite, when using the Underground Man as an example. One can find much anecdotal support in Notes from Underground that this is an anti-Enlightenment novel – far too much to be included in this short book review. Even from the few examples listed here and through the Underground Man’s discourse throughout, it is easy to see the explicit rejection of the Enlightenment notion that reason would free man’s mind of ignorance and set humankind on a path to a utopian existence.
Mini-Q Essay A time period known as The Age of Reason or The Enlightenment was when philosophy, politics, science and social communications changed drastically. It helped shape the ideas of capitalism and democracy, which is the world we live in today. People joined together to discuss areas of high intellect and creative thoughts. The Enlightenment was a time period in which people discussed new ideas, and educated people, known as philosophers, all had a central idea of freedom of choice and the natural right of individuals. These philosophers include John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, and Mary Wollstonecraft.
I must state at this point that much of this book’s content disturbed me, and I experienced great relief at its conclusion. Specifically, his pessimistic views on the Enlightenment,
Unlike previous centuries, the eighteenth century was the dawn of a new age in Western Europe where intellectuals thrived, science was honored, and curiosity was encouraged; and the framework of how civil society was changed as a whole. From the dawn of the Enlightenment, Western European culture was changing due to the revolutionary new ideas that were changing. With the social change going on, political change was as evident as time went on. With these changes rooted in social change, the effects of the Enlightenment can be seen over 18th century Western Europe and beyond. Towards the late 1780s the late German Philosopher Immanuel Kant described the Enlightenment as, “Man leaving his self caused immaturity” ( Spiel Vogel 503).
Niles, Patricia. “The Enlightenment.” Novaonline. Niles and C.T. Evans, 7 May 2011. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. .
Literature is often used to convey messages to their audience, through art, play or poetry. Whether it is intentional or not, an author can not help to include some aspect of the political events that happened during that time period. Two movements discussed in this essay are Enlightenment (17th – 18th Century) and Romanticism (18th – 19th Century) and through literature, we come to acknowledge the presence and representation of evil and how they shape society. Enlightenment thinkers value reason, rationality and moderation, whereas Romanticism encouraged imagination, emotion and individual sensibility. Tartuffe by Moliere demonstrates all of the Enlightenment values in his play, whereas Frankenstein by Mary Shelley emphasizes emotion, passion and the natural world. This essay will explore ways in which human reason and society can be evil and deceiving; although some individuals may think that evil is instilled in us from the day we were born.
During the 18th century, a movement called the Enlightenment changed political, social, and economic theories. This movement was important because people began to question human life and move away from medieval thinking and turn to more modern thoughts. These new, modernized thoughts were important because many philosophes challenged old ideas. The movement was even called “the age of reason”. During the enlightenment, political, social, and economic theories change as philosophes challenged absolutism, religion lost prestige, women and the middle class gained social equality, and as capitalism replaced mercantilism.
He constantly attempts to seek out revenge, but the concept of revenge, paired with the underground character’s actions and inertia, becomes problematic with the underground ideal. The underground character is steeped in contradiction, and how one interprets his actions, or his inactions, is what ultimately determines whether the he is, truly, an underground man. Notes from the Underground and Taxi Driver both depict a protagonist, the underground character, who scoffs and scorns at those aboveground, termed the “normal man” (PDF 15). Notes describes the normal man as someone with “normal interests,” who “act[s] in accordance with the laws of reason and truth” (). Notes were written at the time of the Enlightenment, and used to criticize the then-popular theory of material determinism: that “all choice and reasoning can be.calculated” by science, and if this is applied to human behavior, it is possible that “there will some day be discovered the laws of our so-called free will” (PDF 42)....
..., his physical inertia thwarts his aggressive desires and he has compulsive talk of himself but has no firm discussion (Frank 50). Moreover, the underground man is full of contempt for readers but is desperate that the reader understands, he reads very widely but writes shallowly, he depicts the social thinkers as superficial and he desires to collide with reality but has no ability to do this. Therefore the underground man is completely emotional, babbly with no real form.
Even though he was just a servant for some reason he always seems to act like he was superior to him. This behavior from the servant makes the underground man hate him so much and make him develop this way of always feeling less than other people.
Fanger, Donald. Introduction. Notes From Underground. By Fyodor Dostoevsky. Trans. Mirra Ginsburg. NY: Bantam, 1992.
The arena for this ideological contest is Petersburg, full of slums, revolutionary students and petty titular councilors. Scientifically and artificially constructed in the midst of marshland, the city itself is a symbol of the incompatibility of logical planning with humankind's natural sensibilities. The city did not grow randomly or organically, but entirely by czarist decree. Nonetheless, it is a dank and depressing place to live, at least for those in the vicinity of Haymarket Square, where the story takes place. Joseph Frank, Dostoevsky's biographer, says of ...
Hansen, Bruce. “Dostoevsky’s Theodicy.” Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1996. At . accessed 18 November 2001.
Chapter V – “Oh, gentlemen, perhaps I really regard myself as an intelligent man only because throughout my entire life I’ve never been able to start or finish anything.” Just prior to this point in the novel, he has asserted that his intelligence is the cause of his inertia; now he suggests that his inertia is evidence of his intelligence. This reversal demonstrates the Underground Man’s belief that intelligence, or consciousness, must cause inertia and indecision in the modern era. According to the Underground Man, a man must be completely confident that he is doing the right thing before he can take action. He needs a “primary” cause, something solid by which he can justify what he does. A stupid man can imagine that he has found a primary
The preceding Enlightenment period had depended upon reason, logic and science to give us knowledge, success, and a better society. The Romantics contested that idea and changed the formula...
Dostoyevsky's characters are very similar, as is his stories. He puts a strong stress on the estrangement and isolation his characters feel. His characters are both brilliant and "sick" as mentioned in each novel, poisoned by their intelligence. In Notes from the Underground, the character, who is never given a name, writes his journal from solitude. He is spoiled by his intelligence, giving him a fierce conceit with which he lashes out at the world and justifies the malicious things he does. At the same time, though, he speaks of the doubt he feels at the value of human thought and purpose and later, of human life. He believes that intelligence, to be constantly questioning and "faithless(ly) drifting" between ideas, is a curse. To be damned to see everything, clearly as a window (and that includes things that aren't meant to be seen, such as the corruption in the world) or constantly seeking the meaning of things elusive. Dostoyevsky thought that humans are evil, destructive and irrational.