Philosophy of Moral Revolt: Dostoevsky and Nietzsche

Content

The course reviews the analogy between the ethical ideas of Dostoevsky on Nietzsche. In the centre of attention are the idea of moral revolt, revaluation of values and the conceptions of “Übermensch” and “God-man”. Besides the discussion of normative claims made by Dostoevsky and Nietzsche, their theoretical presuppositions about the nature of morality will be reconstructed. Grounding mainly on Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals and Dostoevsky’s novels Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov and The Devils, the course will show how the authors address such questions as moral motivation and moral scepticism, and their impact to the theory of values, duty ethics, divine command theory and perfectionism.

The course is based on lectures, but presupposes discussions in a group. It is important that students read the following main texts before the course begins:

1. Nietzsche, F.W. Genealogy of Morals.
2. Dostoevsky, F.M. Crime and Punishment.
3. Dostoevsky, F.M. The Brothers Karamazov.

The list of the additional reading materials will be provided later.

Completion

To complete the course requirements students have a task to write an essay.