Against Nihilism: Nietzsche meets Dostoevsky

189 Pages·2019·26.504 MB·English

by  Maia Stepenberg

Against Nihilism
Nietzsche Meets Dostoevsky

Against Nihilism
Nietzsche Meets Dostoevsky
Ma¨ıa Stepenberg
Montreal/Chicago/London
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To my husband and constant collaborator,
Daniel Gregorio Stepenberg,
this book is gratefully dedicated.
M.S.
[F]aith in God and denial of God are not simply two differ-
ent conceptions of the world, but two essentially different
worlds of the spirit, existing side by side, like an Earth and
a counter-Earth, each fully living for itself in its own orbit
of activity.
—Vyacheslav Ivanov, Freedom and the Tragic Life
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Chapter 1: Exile and Criminality 1
Nietzsche and Exile................................................ 2
Nietzsche and Criminality........................................ 5
Apollo versus Dionysus............................................ 6
Dostoevsky and Exile.............................................. 8
Dostoevsky and Criminality..................................... 9
The Double........................................................... 12
The Apostle of Audacity.......................................... 16
Chapter 2: Existentialism and the Disease of Nihilism 25
Definitions of Existentialism..................................... 26
The “Death of God”............................................... 28
The Misery of Freedom ........................................... 34
The Value of Suffering............................................. 40
Chapter 3: Purity and Prophecy 47
Two Prophets........................................................ 48
Nietzsche’s Poetic Quest For Purity........................... 50
Dionysian Descent.................................................. 53
Romantic Rebellion................................................ 56
Dostoevsky’s Vision of Strength Through Weakness...... 58
Feminine Paragons of Purity .................................... 61
Sonia the Spiritual Virgin........................................ 64
viii Against Nihilism
Chapter 4: The Dream of the Golden Age 77
Pagan Perfection.................................................... 80
The Funny Man as Unreliable Narrator...................... 87
Stavrogin’s Golden Age Vision.................................. 89
Chapter 5: Against Nihilism 97
Twilight of the Idols and the Antichrist....................... 99
The Possessed.......................................................104
Chapter 6: Freedom or Christ? 115
Dmitri’s Pro..........................................................117
Ivan’s Contra ........................................................119
Alyosha’s Faith......................................................123
Conclusion 133
Appendix A:Why Kids Shoot Up Schools 139
Appendix B: Selections from Students’ Scripts 147
A Select List of Consulted Readings 157
Index 165
Acknowledgments
This book was made possible by many students at Dawson College in
Montreal. To all my earliest students, who turned out to be “repeat
customers” in various classes on Nietzsche and Dostoevsky that I
first taught in the Humanities Department, I owe a particular debt of
gratitude. For their active collaboration in all the ideas of the present
book, which were then still in formation, I thank Mr. John-Kennedy
Alinsod, Miss Cristina Clemente, Mr. Alex Del Carpio Martel, Mr.
Joseph Cohen, Miss Melissa Di Lena, Miss Stefania Dzieciolowska, Mr.
Randy Etherington, Mr. Jeffrey Giorgi, Miss Chloe Grizenko, Miss
Hajar Halim, Miss Mariya Kartoshova, Miss Alexandra Lado Roy, Mr.
Kerwin Lucia, Mr. Matthew Maurice-Ventouris, Miss Andrea Miles,
Miss Sabrina O’Grady, Ms. Angeliki Pitsikoulis, Miss Emilie Potvin,
Mr. Carl Roberge, Mr. Inti Salinas, Miss Ulyana Stepaniv Lenyk, Miss
Dagmara Stephan, and Miss Kimberly Watson.
Thisbookwasalsomadepossiblebymanypeopleinthesmalltown
of Goyena in the province of Buenos Aires in the country of Argentina
(my adopted homeland for the past dozen years). It was there, during
two years’ leave from teaching work in Montreal, that I found an ideal
writing retreat. Without the simple acceptance and kindness of these
people, who took vicarious pride in the production of a work that was
not in their own language, this project could not have acquired any
humbling larger dimension.
For their continued inspiration in subsequent courses I have devel-
oped on Nietzsche and Dostoevsky since my return to Montreal from
Argentina, I thank the second wave of “repeat customer” students,
in this book’s second phase of evolution: Mr. Timur Abdiyev, Miss
AndreaAngelescu,Mr.EmilioBertrand-Diaz,MissAnaisCharbonneau-
Poitras, Mr. Odiseas Falagaras, Mr. Joseph Filiatreault, Miss Mariam
Galoustova, Miss Sofia Ghiassi, Miss Sara Halasz, Miss Katie Hawes,
Mr. Cedric Hupperetz, Mr. Ivan Marek-Cabral, Miss Claire-Amandine
Sempala, and Miss Pham Thuy Linh To.
For their warm friendship and true spirit of collegiality, I thank
my fellow teachers in the Dawson College Humanities Department, Dr.
Tamara Boness and Dr. Jennifer Harris. For his moral support of this
project from its very beginnings to its final form, I thank the former
Academic Dean of Dawson College, Dr. Robert Kavanagh. Publication