The influence of F. Schiller's aesthetic ideas in interaction with the historical concept of I.G. Fichte on the concept of higher personalities in F.M. Dostoevsky's novel “The Adolescent”
Publication Title:
The influence of F. Schiller's aesthetic ideas in interaction with the historical concept of I.G. Fichte on the concept of higher personalities in F.M. Dostoevsky's novel “The Adolescent”
Abstract:
This article analyzes the ideological content of F.M. Dostoevsky's novel The Adolescent in connection with the aesthetic and historiosophical concepts of F. Schiller. It notes the deep intellectual interconnection between F. Schiller and J.G. Fichte in their views on statehood and culture as forms of the highest unity of mankind, as well as the combined influence of their ideas on the philosophical worldview of F.M. Dostoevsky and the novel's hero, Versilov. It is argued that Versilov's ideas are rooted in the historical and aesthetic concepts of Schiller and Fichte, according to which culture and art serve the internal improvement of man and the future unification of mankind. The article substantiates the hypothesis that culture in Versilov's worldview becomes a form of religious life, as it is culture that serves as the expression of human freedom, the unity of mankind, and the meaning of historical development. The significance of the image of the “Golden Age” in Versilov's worldview is shown in connection with the historiosophical concepts of Schiller and Fichte. The relationship between Dostoevsky's “Russian idea” and the noble idea of the “highest cultural type” expressed by Versilov is demonstrated through Fichte's concept, according to which historical movement consists in the dissemination of culture by outstanding individuals; culture is passed on from people to people, and the most cultured state of its era becomes the common Fatherland of every enlightened Christian. It is concluded that Versilov's “fantasies” and Dostoevsky's “dreams”, criticized by many representatives of Russian social thought, are in fact a continuation and development of a profound intellectual tradition within European philosophy.
References:
(Sources)
Collected Works
1. Dostoevskiy, F.M. Podrostok [The Adolescent], in Dostoevskiy, F.M. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy v 30 t., t. 13 [Complete Works in 30 vols., vol. 13]. Leningrad: Nauka, 1975. 453 p.
2. Dostoevskiy, F.M. Podrostok. Rukopisnye redaktsii [The Adolescent. Handwritten editions], in Dostoevskiy, F.M. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy v 30 t., t. 16 [Complete Works in 30 vols., vol. 16]. Leningrad: Nauka, 1976. 480 p.
3. Dostoevskiy, F.M. Ryad statey o russkoy literature [A number of articles about Russian literature], in Dostoevskiy, F.M. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy v 30 t., t. 18 [Complete Works in 30 vols., vol. 18]. Leningrad: Nauka, 1978, pp. 41–103.
4. Einige Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens, welche bey dem gewesenen Regierungsrath Zwack durch vorgenommene Hausvisitation zu Landshut den 11. und 12. Octob. ec. 1786 vorgefunden worden... Bd. 2 [Some original writings of the Illuminati Order, which were found at the home of the former government councillor Zwack in Landshut on 11 and 12 October 1786. Vol 2]. München: Anton Franz, 1787. 566 p.
5. Fikhte, I.G. Naznachenie cheloveka [Human assignment], in Fikhte, I.G. Sobranie sochineniy v 2 t., t. 2 [Collected Works in 2 vols., vol. 2]. Saint-Petersburg: Mifril, 1993, pp. 65–224.
6. Fikhte, I.G. Neskol'ko lektsiy o naznachenii uchenogo [Several lectures on the appointment of a scientist], in Fikhte, I.G. Sobranie sochineniy v 2 t., t. 2 [Collected Works in 2 vols., vol. 2]. Saint-Petersburg: Mifril, 1993, pp. 7–64.
7. Fikhte, I.G. Osnovnye cherty sovremennoy epokhi [The main features of the modern era], in Fikhte, I.G. Sobranie sochineniy v 2 t., t. 2 [Collected Works in 2 vols., vol. 2]. Saint-Petersburg: Mifril, 1993, pp. 359–617.
8. Gertsen, A.I. S togo berega [From Another Shore], in Gertsen, A.I. Sobranie sochineniy v 30 t., t. 6 [Collected Works in 30 vols., vol. 6]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo AN USSR, 1955, pp. 187–223.
9. Gertsen, A.I. Zapiski odnogo molodogo cheloveka [The notes of a young man], in Gertsen, A.I. Sobranie sochineniy v 30 t., t. 1 [Collected Works in 30 vols., vol. 1]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo AN USSR, 1954, pp. 257–316.
10. Ogarev, N.P. Otryvok iz avtobiografii [An excerpt from his autobiography], in Ogarev, N.P. Izbrannye sotsial'no-politicheskie i filosofskie proizvedeniya v 2 t., t. 2 [Selected socio-political and philosophical works in 2 vols., vol. 2]. Moscow: Gospolitizdat, 1956, pp. 21–24.
11. Shiller, F. Pis'ma ob esteticheskom vospitanii cheloveka [On the Aesthetic Education of Man in a Series of Letters], in Shiller, F. Sobranie sochineniy v 7 t., t. 6 [Collected Works in 7 vols., vol. 6]. Moscow: GIKhL, 1957, pp. 251–358.
Individual Works
12. Fikhte, I.G. Rechi k nemetskoy natsii [Addresses to the German Nation]. Saint-Petersburg: Nauka, 2009. 349 p.
13. Karleyl', T. Geroi, pochitanie geroev i geroicheskoe v istorii [On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History]. Moscow: Astrel', 2012. 1023 p.
14. Odoevskiy, V.F. Russkie nochi [Russian Nights]. Leningrad: Nauka, 1975. 317 p.
(Articles from Scientific Journals)
15. Evlampiev, I.I. Ideya vsemirnoy imperii kul'tury v vozzreniyakh V.S. Solov'eva i v russkom obshchestvenno-politicheskom soznanii XIX veka [The idea of a world empire of culture in the views of V.S. Solovyov and in the Russian socio-political consciousness of the XIX century], in Solov'evskie issledovaniya, 2023, issue 1(77), pp. 80–96.
16. Evlampiev, I.I. Spor o roli lichnosti v istorii: roman F.M. Dostoevskogo «Podrostok» protiv romana L.N. Tolstogo «Voyna i mir» [Debate on the Role of the Individual in History: F.M. Dostoevsky's Novel “The Adolescent” versus L.N. Tolstoy's Novel “War and Peace”], in Paradigma. Filosofsko-kul'turologicheskiy al'manakh, 2019, issue 30, pp. 48–76.
17. Lysenkova, E.I. Aspekty problemy Shillera v tvorchestve F.M. Dostoevskogo («Bednye lyudi», «Unizhennye i oskorblennye») [Aspects of the Schiller problem in the works of F.M. Dostoevsky (“Poor People”, “The Insulted and Humiliated”)], in Studia Culturae, 2014, no. 21, pp. 147–154.
18. Sakaniva, A., Evlampiev, I.I. Vozvrashchenie k Rossii: Tyutchev i Dostoevskiy [Return to Russia: Tyutchev and Dostoevsky], in Solov'evskie issledovaniya, 2015, issue 2(46), pp. 35–50.
(Monographs)
19. Evlampiev, I.I. Anri Bergson: filosofiya gryadushchey epokhi [Henri Bergson: Philosophy of the Coming Age]. Saint-Petersburg: RKhGA, 2021. 360 p.
20. Gacheva, A. «Nam ne dano predugadat', kak slovo nashe otzovetsya…» Dostoevskiy i Tyutchev [“We are not Given to Predict how our Word will Respond...” (Dostoevsky and Tyutchev)]. Moscow: IMLI RAN, 2004. 637 p.
21. Kantor, V.K. Dve rodiny Dostoevskogo: Popytka osmysleniya [Two Homelands of Dostoevsky: An Attempt at Understanding]. Moscow; Saint-Petersburg: Tsentr gumanitarnykh initsiativ, 2021. 608 p.
22. Lyngstad, A. Dostoevskij and Schiller [Dostoevsky and Schiller]. Hague: Mouton, 1975. 126 p.
23. Vil'mont, N.N. Dostoevskiy i Shiller [Dostoevsky and Schiller]. Moscow: Sovetskiy pisatel', 1984. 280 p.
(Electronic Resources)
24. Daubitz, U. Anthropologie und Geschichtsphilosophie beim jungen Friedrich Schiller [Anthropology and philosophy of history in the young Friedrich Schiller], in Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.) eingereicht an der Philosophischen Fakultät I der HumboldtUniversität zu Berlin. Available at: https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/server/api/core/bitstreams/58b8ed96-6fde-4b60-... (Date of access: 24.08.2024).
Key words:
F. Schiller's concept of aesthetic education, J.G. Fichte's “realm of culture”, F.M. Dostoevsky's “Russian idea”, religion of culture, concept of higher personalities, high art
The DOI index:
10.17588/2076-9210.2026.1.101-116
Publication file:
