Dostoyevsky's critique of the West : the quest for the earthly paradise / Bruce K. Ward.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ward, Bruce K. (Bruce Kinsey), 1950-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881--Criticism and interpretation.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor.

Civilization, Western, in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (217 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Waterloo, Ont. : Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1986.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Not much attention has been given to Dostoyevsky's concern with the crisis of the modern West, although allusions to almost every aspect of Western civilization--including the political, economic, and social dimensions--are present in his literary works and abound in his secondary writings. This book points the way to a better understanding of the apparent contradiction between Dostoyevsky's concern with the highest reaches of human spirituality and at the same time with the most detailed developments in domestic and international politics. Ward argues that the apparent polarization of "religious" thought and "political" analysis of the West are held together for Dostoyevsky in his search for the best human order. He demonstrates not only that Dostoyevsky's observations about the West constitute a coherent critique intimately related to the deepest aspects of his though, but also that these can be rendered more systematic and explicit. What results is an incisve account of both the religious and the political thought of Dostoyevsky, which helps clarify what Dostoyevsky, which helps clarify what Dostoyevsky can teach us about the modern situation of the Western world and about the problem of human order in general, for, as the author states, "it was Dostoyevsky's great virtue as a thinker always to see the pressing issues of his particular time and place in the light of the 'everlasting problems.'"

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Notes On Translation, Transliteration, And References

Introduction

Russian Westernism: Its Historical Development

The Theory And Practice Of The "Great Idea" Of Order

The "Great Idea" In The Modern West

The Final Western Social Formula

Dostoyevsky's Judgment Of The Final Western Social Formula

Russian Socialism And The Western Crisis

Appendix

Selected Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliography and index.

ISBN:

9786613811011

9781554588169

1554588162

9781554586110

1554586119

9781282233270

1282233270

9780889205642

0889205647

OCLC:

753479611