The last article concluded with the fact that three things are of paramount importance in the Western worldview: Free will, that is, the unbridled autonomy of man. The second is rationalism and the third is a powerful man with extraordinary abilities. Atheism is active as a soul in these three concepts. It is safe to say that atheism is common to almost all the philosophies and concepts that have appeared in Western thought.
For example, if you look at Hedonism, or denial of existence, etc., the denial of God will also be seen there. Where there is denial of God, even if God is present, they will be seen refusing to obey Him. All such ideas were at Tolstoy and Dostoevskys aim.
So when Friedrich Nietzsche in Germany burying God on his side and carving an idol of Superman, Tolstoy had written that in ancient notion whatever happens in this universe is by the Gods will. Then some wise men of the modern age (fifteenth century) declared this concept childish and assigned this position of God to some great conquerors.
Therefore, the creator of History is a powerful man, not God. And of course, theres the concept of free will. So Tolstoy writes, combining these two concepts at once: If every mans freedom were unlimited, if every man had the power to do what he wanted, then the whole history of mankind would be nothing but a mixture of uncoordinated events.
If only one in a million human beings in a thousand years had the power to do something with unlimited authority, then one illegal act of that one person would eliminate the possibility of any law for the whole of humanity. In this short statement Tolstoy denies not only the denial of God but also of the powerful man and its free will and that too with a rational argument which cannot be denied.
In order to make this option acceptable, the concept of rationalism was introduced by the West that man is intelligent and he uses it to do all good. So Dostoevsky destroyed this rationalism in just two lines: Whether its right or wrong, sometimes breaking something is just as enjoyable.
In this simple line, Dostoevsky draws attention to this aspect of human instinct, the denial of which is equivalent to the denial of the sun. Who does not know that man does not make every decision according to the scale of right or wrong. Therefore, the man being intelligent does not guarantee that whatever one do will be right.
Dostoevsky then proves that European nations are on the path to self-destruction. Their luxurious society and their capitalism is nothing but self-destruction. Dostoevskys position can be accurately understood from the introduction of the man in his possession.
According to him, the most prominent identities of man are two. The first is that it is flawed. And second, it is self-harmful. Dostoevskys position can be seen in the use of all types of drugs, from alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and marijuana to heroin. Who does not know that all these things are destructive to man? But arent millions of people still suffering from them? If the intellect can guarantee protection from harm, then no intelligent person should have touched these things.
Hence, Dostoevsky writes here, focusing on the importance of God: If there is no God, then everything is permissible. And his city-wide novel Crime and Punishment is based on the same theme. The protagonist of this novel, Raskolnikov, had every rational reason for killing a rich woman. His plan was also spotless.
There was no fear of being caught. He was not seen during the murder, nor was he arrested after the murder. But after doing the act, his conscience created such turmoil inside him that he did not feel at ease for a moment. This turmoil seems to cover the whole depths of the human psyche throughout the novel. No one has been able to give a greater answer to rationalism other than Dostoevsky has dug up rationalism. What is this voice of conscience? That is God.
Lets go back to the so-called powerful man of the West who has the status of the creator of history in Western thought under infinite freedom. In Western thought, this powerful man exists in two forms. If it is good then it is a hero. If bad its a villain. So from here you can see that the art of Hollywood and Bollywood is based on this concept.
But its not that simple. The historical fact is that if the powerful man is their own, then the one who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is also a hero. And if it is a different ideology, then the car bomb detonator is also a villain.
Commenting on this powerful man in War and Peace, Tolstoy says: Its a character of a story that the storyteller has exaggerated. It doesnt just end with this commentary, but it does portray Napoleon in War and Peace as a man of short stature who was no more important than a mere figure in a historical process. That is, he was not the creator of an event, but merely a part of it.
One of the sayings of the teacher Ahmed Javed is of great help in understanding this position of Tolstoy. The Western notion of history is that great heroes or villains are its creators. While my teachers concept of history is that history is of two kinds. One optional and the other incidental.
For example, my optional history is where I studied, where I lived, where I worked. Whereas my incidental history in which my authority is absolutely zero, is what nation I was born in, and what country I was born as a citizen, etc. Now, if you consider, Napoleon is nothing more than a limited part of history, a character of optional history.
If anyone says where did the role of optional history come from? He is the creator of this history by his own choice, so we should not forget that the power to make this optional history was given to him by his incidental history. In which he was born in France and the rest of the history took him to the place from which his triumphant journey began.
Thus Tolstoy seems to give the key in the description of his theory of history that you cannot see any recent event without historical background. There is a continuum of history behind the great event that took place today. And todays event is the result of that continuity.
He illustrates with the example of the human body that the head is not alone. Its burden is borne by innumerable cells and many other organs. So these are the many small and big events of nature that together make a big event. And man is just a character in this event. He is not its creator at all. (To be continued)
Read the original:
Invasion of Ukraine and Russian literature III - MM News
- Richard Dawkins has some regrets - Washington Examiner - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Keeping the faith: These religious groups are flourishing as atheism takes hold - The Age - April 2nd, 2024 [April 2nd, 2024]
- Pew study paints a picture of the average US atheist - Aleteia - February 20th, 2024 [February 20th, 2024]
- 'There's No Science Behind That': Actor Rob Schneider Passionately Checkmates 'Bleak' Worldview Within Atheism - CBN.com - February 20th, 2024 [February 20th, 2024]
- Atheists Find God at the Latin Mass: A Review of Mass of the Ages - CatholicCitizens.org - Catholic Citizens of Illinois - February 20th, 2024 [February 20th, 2024]
- Is atheism destroying the moral fabric of society? - Big Think - July 21st, 2023 [July 21st, 2023]
- The Logic of Faith - Adventist Review - July 21st, 2023 [July 21st, 2023]
- Change of plans - USC News & Events - University of South Carolina - July 21st, 2023 [July 21st, 2023]
- 71 Years Later, The Weirdest Religion in Sci-Fi History Is Back - Inverse - July 21st, 2023 [July 21st, 2023]
- Twitter taught Microsofts AI chatbot to be a racist asshole in less ... - January 2nd, 2023 [January 2nd, 2023]
- Al-Qaeda: Islamist Qatar Bringing 'Homosexuals,' 'Atheism' to Middle ... - December 18th, 2022 [December 18th, 2022]
- His View: Fear not the atheist; they just might be right - Moscow-Pullman Daily News - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Vatican II and the Rise of Atheism - National Catholic Register - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Atheists who believe in ghosts - OnlySky - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Religion at the Chinese Communist Party Congress: Christians Told They Should Become More Marxist - Bitter Winter - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- The Rise And Fall Of Sexual Sanity In Western Civilization - The Federalist - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Duchess of York, Sarah Fergie Ferguson, is 63 - iHeart - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- On the short life and sudden death of Soviet atheism - OnlySky - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Darwin and the New Atheists - Discovery Institute - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Researchers to explore why atheism is growing across the world - Newswise - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Census Northern Ireland: Academic gives warning over figures showing rise in atheism - Belfast News Letter - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- The Rise of the Evangelical Heretic - ChristianityToday.com - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Antitheism - Wikipedia - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Biden's global initiative to replace Christianity with atheism faces ... - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Researchers to explore why atheism is growing across the world - Brunel University News - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Functional atheism: Popular pastor delivers gut-check on what worry really reveals - The Christian Post - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Why did Britney Spears turn to atheism and Shia LaBeouf to faith? | Opinion - Deseret News - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Someone who seeks the truth finds God Catholic World Report - Catholic World Report - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- On Religion: The faith questions that haunted the life of Gorbachev - GoDanRiver.com - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Atheism and Recovery What if I didn't have a mental illness? - Freethought Blogs - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- Whatever Happened to Atheists? | Gene Veith - Patheos - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- Four Very Short Introductions podcast episodes to get you thinking | OUPblog - OUPblog - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- BookLash: Are the cold, hard realities found within Bridge to Terabithia not for young, innocent minds? - The Wood Word - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- ABS to consult on religious classifications - The Mandarin - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- In defense of the Bible - iHeartRadio - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- Mubarak Bala: Atheist Activism And Liberation From Religious Oppression In Nigeria By Leo Igwe - SaharaReporters.com - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Between Grace and Nature - The American Conservative - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Religious and spiritual practices may improve mental health in older adults - 2 Minute Medicine - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- If You Meet Richard Dawkins On The Road... - Daily Kos - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Why the World's Religions Are Dying a Slow Death - The National Interest Online - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- Atheism still not always easy in the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl - DutchNews.nl - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- Believing Is Bad for You: At the Museum of Russian Icons, Images of Atheism - The Boston Globe - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- If You Meet the Buddha on the Road... Kill Him. - Daily Kos - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- Hart's Turn To Heterodoxy | Gerald McDermott - First Things - July 25th, 2022 [July 25th, 2022]
- For natural theologians, proving God was beside the point - Aeon - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Patrick Berg, MD To Speak On The Origin Of Life At Los Alamos Faith & Science Forum Wednesday - Los Alamos Reporter - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Head of gold and feet of clay - Deccan Herald - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Letter to the editor: LGBTQ+ students represented in Mt. Lebanon - TribLIVE - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Supreme Court ruling leads to jokes about the Church of Satan - indy100 - June 26th, 2022 [June 26th, 2022]
- Inside Amber Heards childhood, journey to atheism and early acting career - HITC - Football, Gaming, Movies, TV, Music - May 28th, 2022 [May 28th, 2022]
- Reason and Religion Go Hand in Hand Especially Paganism - Patheos - May 28th, 2022 [May 28th, 2022]
- Letter to the Editor: Find Out for Yourself What College Students Are Learning - Centralia Chronicle - May 28th, 2022 [May 28th, 2022]
- Meyer: Theistic Implications of the Multiverse - Discovery Institute - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Denton: How Science Leads the Charge to Theism - Discovery Institute - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- The Musician Who Gave Me the City and Stars, Vangelis, Is Dead - TheStranger.com - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Gospel in Art: If the world hates you, remember that it hated me before you | ICN - Independent Catholic News - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Summer reading suggestions from Baylor Family authors - Baylor University - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Tired of the Media Promoting Atheism as Science? - Discovery Institute - May 17th, 2022 [May 17th, 2022]
- The rise of 'apatheism' and what it means for Christians and the Gospel - The Christian Post - May 17th, 2022 [May 17th, 2022]
- Images Of Atheism: The Soviet Assault On ReligionAntiques And The Arts Weekly - Antiques and the Arts Online - May 7th, 2022 [May 7th, 2022]
- Imagine Theres No Svarga: Rediscovering Crvka, Indias 2,700-Year-Old Atheistic Tradition - Quillette - May 7th, 2022 [May 7th, 2022]
- Confucianism: Atheism or Religion? 2. In Search of Confucius - Bitter Winter - May 7th, 2022 [May 7th, 2022]
- Why Elon Musk's ambition to have Twitter authenticate all real humans will get people killed - Rest of World - May 7th, 2022 [May 7th, 2022]
- Floyd Dell's illustrious writing career started in Quincy - Herald-Whig - May 7th, 2022 [May 7th, 2022]
- Exorcisms: Giving Witness to the Resurrection - Relevant Radio - April 29th, 2022 [April 29th, 2022]
- The Answer to Ayla's prayer - The Catholic Weekly - April 29th, 2022 [April 29th, 2022]
- Book Review: Can Scientists Be Religious? The Wire Science - The Wire Science - April 29th, 2022 [April 29th, 2022]
- Spain: Atheism and agnosticism on the rise in pandemic times - Evangelical Focus - April 22nd, 2022 [April 22nd, 2022]
- Atheists, spurred by growing ranks, gather for first time since start of pandemic - Religion News Service - April 22nd, 2022 [April 22nd, 2022]
- Stephen Meyer: Totalitarian Dystopias and the God Hypothesis - Discovery Institute - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- Suzanne Harrington: It's refreshing that no religion is acknowledged on the census - Irish Examiner - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- The trial of Anaxagoras: a soliloquy - TheArticle - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- Faith, Science, and Francis Collins - The New Yorker - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- EDITORIAL: On Russia, the ANC shows its moral atheism - BusinessLIVE - March 4th, 2022 [March 4th, 2022]
- Percentage Of Atheists In America By State - WorldAtlas - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]
- Atheism in China: How the Communist Party Proves that God Does Not Exist - Bitterwinter.org - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]
- China: The 2022 Olympics and Scientific Atheism - FSSPX.Actualits - FSSPX.News - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]
- Studying Abroad: 'Encountering God as an Atheist' | Features | valpotorch.com - The Torch - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]
- Why I Am Catholic Will Herrmann - TheCatholicSpirit.com - The Catholic Spirit - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]
- Conversations with Friends: plot, cast and everything you need to know - Time Out - February 28th, 2022 [February 28th, 2022]