FREE ESSAY ON PHILOSOPHY OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

PHILOSOPHY OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is a tale of poverty and suffering by all characters.
Through suffering comes rationalization of decisions made and the circumstances of life.
Philosophical theories develop through rationalization of the character. 
Two main philosophical motifs arise through out Crime and Punishment. Existentialism and
Nihilism are the two main philosophies represented. Raskolnikov, the main character, is
involved with the text in which these philosophies are represented.
Although Existentialism and Nihilism and heavily represented by characters in the novel
Dostoevsky's personal belief were quite the opposite. Being an avid member of the Russian
Orthorodox Church was Dostoevsky dedicated to religious mysticism. (Barna, 320)
"Dostoevsky himself was a Christian, to be sure, and for that matter also a rabid
anti-Semite, anti-Catholic, and anti-Western Russian nationalist. We have no right
whatsoever to attribute to him the opinions of all of his most interesting
characters."(Kaufmann, 14)
Representation of Dostoevsky's opposition is most easily found in the last few chapters
of the book. Raskolnikov the Existentialist/Nihilist is eventually punished for his
crime. Raskolnikov failure is Dostoevsky way of dispelling the beliefs of Existentialism
and Nihilism. If Dostoevsky true believed in the righteousness of Existentialism and
Nihilism Raskolnikov would never have been punished or shown as a criminal failure.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Existentialism is
"A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience
in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and
stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts." These
idea's of the individual defines everything is a philosophy used throughout the novel
when crimes and criminals are concerned. 
In part three, chapter five at the police station a conversation arises between the
police officer Porfiry and Raskolnikov concerning a topic discussed at Rasumihin
(Raskolnikov's friend) party. The discussion was concerning the Socialist doctrine, and
centered around the belief that crime is a protest against the abnormality of the social
organization. (251) This statement is in clear consensus with the dictionary definition
of Existentialism. 
However Raskolnikov is never clearly in agreement with this theory. Instead the
conversation is turned to an article Raskolnikov wrote when he was a student. The article
was the psychology of a criminal before and after the crime, but the point of interest
lay in the extraordinary man theory. This theory is basically "a suggestion that there
are certain persons who can...that is, not precisely are able to, but have a perfect
right to commit breaches of morality and crimes, and that the law is not for
them."(Porfiry, 254) 
Raskolnikov's extraordinary man theory is indirectly agreeing with existential beliefs.
If existentialists actively promote the freedom of individuals and certain individuals
have a perfect right to commit breaches of morality and crimes, then one freedom of
individual is to commit breaches of morality and crimes.
Nihilism is the rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a
willingness to repudiate all precious theories of morality or religious belief. The
direct definition of Nihilism is never represented in Crime and Punishment; rather the
theories of famous Nihilist philosophers are firmly incorporated. 
Friedrich Nietzsche and Georg Hegel are perhaps two philosophers most often associated
with Nihilism. Hegel and Nietzsche are also the founding fathers of the Extraordinary Man
theories. This 'superman' theory is very important to the novel because Raskolnikov uses
the theory to justify and rationalize the crime. 
For Raskolnikov all men are divided into two categories: ordinary and extraordinary. The
ordinary man is inferior, a must live in submission and has no right to transgress the
law because he is ordinary. However the extraordinary man "has the right...that is not an
official right, but an inner right to decide in his own conscience to overstep...certain
obstacles, and only in case it is essential for the practical fulfillment of his idea
(sometimes, perhaps, of benefit to the whole of humanity)." (Raskolnikov, 254)
Raskolnikov's extraordinary man theory is a combination of Nietzsche and Hegel's
rationale. The Hegelian superman exists for noble purposes in the view that if the ends
are noble then the means can be justified. The emphasis is always on the ends rather than
the means. The Hegelian superman is one that stands above the ordinary man, but works for
the benefit of all mankind. 
Raskolnikov crime, the murder of the old pawnbroker is in alignment with this because it
considered noble. The old pawnbroker is an evil person who is actually harming society by
her vile and cynical grasp on the poor people who come to her for pawning. According to
Hegel, any harmful segment of society should be removed. Therefore, Raskolnikov reasons
that by murdering the old pawnbroker, he will be removing a harmful "thing" from society.
This justification is also reaffirmed in chapter five of part by unnamed student in the
tavern "Kill her, take her money and with the help of it devote oneself to the service to
humanity and the good of all. What do you think, would not one tiny crime be wiped out by
thousands of good deeds?" (Student, 67)
The Nietzschean superman is slightly different from the Hegelian superman in respect to
motive. The Nietzschean superman does not exist for the benefit of society. Instead he
exists for his own personal gratification. His aims are not prompted by any type of
nobility. When Raskolnikov states the extraordinary has "...an inner right to decide in
his own conscience to overstep...certain obstacles, and only in case it is essential for
the practical fulfillment of his idea..." it demonstrates that his foremost important aim
is self-gratification. The Nietzschean superman asserts his own will in order to gratify
his own desires. This freedom by the individual to assert one's will also ties back in
with Existentialism stress on freedom of choice for the individual. 
Svidrigailov is another example of the Nietzschean superman. He can rape a
thirteen-year-old girl so as to satisfy his will, he can be the instrument causing the
death of his wife or a servant, and he can pursue Dounia (Raskolnikov sister) because
that is what he wants. 
Dostoevsky's Crime and punishment not only provided
Bibliography
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