Nikolai Berdyaev (1874-1948) was a Russian philosopher, exiled by the Soviets in 1922 on one of the famous “philosophers’ ships”. He eventually settled in France, remaining there till his death. His classic book Dostoevsky: An Interpretation was the result of a series of lectures he gave in 1920 in Moscow, already under Soviet domination. Berdyaev brought clarity and depth to his discussion of the great themes of Dostoevsky’s works, which are the themes of philosophy and indeed of life: God, man, freedom, evil, and love.
Berdyaev’s book includes a chapter on Dostoevsky’s view of the “Russian soul”. Dostoevsky’s analysis of the situation in Russia anticipated what was to happen there a few decades later: the Communist revolution. Berdyaev also dedicates a chapter to analysing the story “The Grand Inquisitor”, which is about a man who tried to make himself God, coming face to face with Jesus Christ, the God-Man. Berdyaev argues that Dostoevsky is not attacking Roman Catholicism but totalitarian socialism, i.e. Communism, as foreseen by him, which aims to produce happiness on earth by abolishing freedom and subjecting everything and everyone to strict control.
Berdyaev was at one time a socialist and a Marxist, but later distanced himself from Marxism, calling it a religion that aimed to save mankind by organising human life not only without God but against God, and thus, ultimately, against man. Berdyaev concludes by analysing Dostoevsky’s genius, his limitations, and his significance for us today – the greatness of freedom and its risks. The fact that freedom is an adventure full of risks does not, he maintains, mean that we should not aim for it, because it is the only way we can grow greater, and, therefore, the only path to happiness for mankind and to the fulfilment of our divine vocation to love.
J.I.P. (Spain, 2016)