Lecture Notes on Dostoevsky's Themes and Characters

Introduction

• Addressing previous errors in text edition references.
• Revisiting the relevance of Part 1 in Dostoevsky's novel.

City Planning and St. Petersburg

• Raskolnikov's 'irrelevant thoughts' about city planning.
• St. Petersburg depicted as a character in the novel, symbolizing crime.
• The city built on utopian rational architecture.
• Historical reference to city planning:
  • Peter the Great’s construction of St. Petersburg.
  • Similar designs in other cities like Philadelphia and Brasilia.
• Challenges of living in St. Petersburg:
  • Built on canals, frequent flooding.
  • Rapidly declining population due to poor living conditions.

Rationality and Human Nature

• Raskolnikov's belief in rationality and the perfect crime.
• St. Petersburg as a symbol of rationality:
  • Contrast with historical evolutionary city planning.
• Discussion on socialism and the rejection of inherent human nature.

Influence of Napoleon

• Raskolnikov’s Napoleonic theory.
• Influence of Napoleon on 19th-century youth and literature.
• Napoleon's rationality and will over ethics.

Themes of the Novel

• Limitations of rationality.
• Social conditions vs. individual moral decisions.
• The philosophical debate on rationality vs. historical processes.

Character Analysis

Razumikhin

• Represents reason rather than mere rationality.
• Advocates for individuality and owning one's thoughts.

Dunya (Raskolnikov’s Sister)

• Represents Raskolnikov’s double.
• Theme of sacrificial decisions and implications.

Detective Porfiry Petrovich

• Contrast with Sherlock Holmes:
  • Prefers psychological manipulation over empirical deduction.
• Techniques used to enter Raskolnikov’s psyche:
  • Winking as a second line of communication.
  • Creating paranoia and self-doubt.

Raskolnikov’s Theories on Crime

• Three theories:
  1. Amoral universe, no good or evil.
  2. Utilitarianism: greatest good for the greatest number.
  3. The extraordinary vs. ordinary people:
     • Moral right for extraordinary people to commit crimes for progress.
• Critique of intelligentsia and societal structures.

Discussions on Rationality and Morality

• Razumikhin’s arguments against pure rationality.
• The dangers of justifying actions through convoluted theories.
• Dostoevsky’s critique of both capitalism and socialism.

Upcoming Topics

• Introduction to Svidrigailov, exploring nihilism.
• Examination of living without moral constraints.
• Notable humor in Dostoevsky’s exploration of dark themes.

Conclusion

• Encouragement to explore themes of individuality and societal conditioning in upcoming chapters.
• Reminder of the complex interplay between rationality, morality, and human nature in Dostoevsky's work.