Good evening scholars!
I have some information that may make a few things clearer about CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.
English Philosopher JEREMY BENTHAM (1748 - 1832) is the founder of utilitarianism, a philosophy that held that what is best for society (the common good) is that which is best for the majority. Bentham believed that he could scientifically analyze morality and concluded that the common good is the mathematical sum of individual happiness. Therefore, the greatest good is achieved when the greatest number of people enjoy happiness. An unfortunate tenet of this philosophy is that the rule of the majority is the only rule that matters and that the rights or happiness of the individual does not matter. (FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY; Baldwin; page 92.)
John Stuart Mill (English philosopher, 1806 - 1983) further developed the theories of utilitarianism by expanding the consideration of the rights of the unrecognized minority, which lead to advances in human rights and proportional representation in government. (DOSTOEVSKY; Baldwin; page 92.)
Friedrich Hegel (German philosopher, 1770 - 1831) The ideas of Hegel pervade the conversation between the student and the officer in the tavern in Part 1, Chapter Vl. Hegel envisions a world in which a universal guiding spirit sets all things in motion, including human will and reason. Hegel posits that the world changes according to a theory known as the dialectic. According to the dialectic, a concept (or thesis) generates its exact opposite (antithesis) until the two interact to produce a synthesis. The synthesis in turn becomes a new thesis which in turn generates its own antithesis and so on, ad infinitum. In CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Raskolnikov shows the flaw in Hegel's argument. Compassion or emotion is in continual conflict with his intellect, yet there is never a synthesis nor a resolution - just continuous half-hearted, ineffectual acts of compassion (such as his concern for the teenaged prostitute) which are sabotaged by his intellectual rationalizations for his nonactions (ibid; page 96.)
I have some information that may make a few things clearer about CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.
English Philosopher JEREMY BENTHAM (1748 - 1832) is the founder of utilitarianism, a philosophy that held that what is best for society (the common good) is that which is best for the majority. Bentham believed that he could scientifically analyze morality and concluded that the common good is the mathematical sum of individual happiness. Therefore, the greatest good is achieved when the greatest number of people enjoy happiness. An unfortunate tenet of this philosophy is that the rule of the majority is the only rule that matters and that the rights or happiness of the individual does not matter. (FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY; Baldwin; page 92.)
John Stuart Mill (English philosopher, 1806 - 1983) further developed the theories of utilitarianism by expanding the consideration of the rights of the unrecognized minority, which lead to advances in human rights and proportional representation in government. (DOSTOEVSKY; Baldwin; page 92.)
Friedrich Hegel (German philosopher, 1770 - 1831) The ideas of Hegel pervade the conversation between the student and the officer in the tavern in Part 1, Chapter Vl. Hegel envisions a world in which a universal guiding spirit sets all things in motion, including human will and reason. Hegel posits that the world changes according to a theory known as the dialectic. According to the dialectic, a concept (or thesis) generates its exact opposite (antithesis) until the two interact to produce a synthesis. The synthesis in turn becomes a new thesis which in turn generates its own antithesis and so on, ad infinitum. In CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Raskolnikov shows the flaw in Hegel's argument. Compassion or emotion is in continual conflict with his intellect, yet there is never a synthesis nor a resolution - just continuous half-hearted, ineffectual acts of compassion (such as his concern for the teenaged prostitute) which are sabotaged by his intellectual rationalizations for his nonactions (ibid; page 96.)
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