Ivan Karamazov is a hopeless romantic

Ivan Karamazov is frequently used, and misused, in discussions concerning the problem of evil. The purpose of this article is to correct some pervasive misinterpretations of Ivan's statement, as found in Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. I criticise some common misinterpretations, as ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal for philosophy of religion
Main Author: Betenson, Toby (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 2015
In: International journal for philosophy of religion
Further subjects:B GOOD & evil
B KARAMAZOV, Ivan (Fictitious character)
B Research
B Romantic
B John Hick
B Marilyn Adams
B Positivism
B BROTHERS Karamazov, The (Book : Dostoyevsky)
B Dostoevsky
B Romanticism
B Theodicy
B Positivist
B Ivan Karamazov
B Stewart Sutherland
B The problem of evil
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Ivan Karamazov is frequently used, and misused, in discussions concerning the problem of evil. The purpose of this article is to correct some pervasive misinterpretations of Ivan's statement, as found in Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. I criticise some common misinterpretations, as exemplified in the theodical work of Marilyn Adams and John Hick, as well as the more nuanced interpretation of Stewart Sutherland. Though Sutherland's interpretation is the strongest, it nevertheless misses the mark in identifying Ivan as a positivist. I argue that Ivan Karamazov is not a positivist, but a romantic, and a hopeless one at that. We should, therefore, not read Ivan as stating an argument for the non-existence of God, but instead see him as a representative of a very particular and robust form of non-cognitive atheism.
ISSN:1572-8684
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal for philosophy of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s11153-014-9487-9