In Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov depends on rational logic and reason for his beliefs. He takes pride in his mind and understanding of the world, but is inclined towards atheism as he cannot rationally justify the existence of God. This leads Ivan to deny morality altogether, a root of confusion for him throughout the novel when his experiences shed doubt on his theory that, if there is no God, then “there is no immortality of the soul, then there is no virtue, and therefore everything is permitted” (81).
This idea connects with those illustrated in Sergei Nechaev’s “Catechism of a Revolutionist.” In this article, the revolutionist follows a ‘religion’ although one not focused on a Christian God. Rather, the revolutionist believes that any action that hinders the progression of a revolution is immoral and any action that propels the progression of a revolution is moral. This type of morality is dependent on an ends-justify-the-means mindset, whereby if an action supports the ends—a revolution—then that action is moral, regardless if it appears to be inherently just. Here, the revolution may act like the Christian ‘afterlife’. The afterlife may be achieved by appeasing the Christian God and Ivan assumes that what appeases God is moral. This is the Platonic Euthyphro dilemma, “Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?” Ivan’s argument against virtue operates under the latter as, like the Russian revolutionist, Ivan believes the ends justify the means.
Ivan theorizes that there is no virtue and that everything is permitted possibly because he is influenced by the Russian idea that the ends justify the means, as seen in Russian revolutionist thought. Dostoevsky will spend the remainder of the novel bringing to light the issue with Ivan’s character trait, as Dostoevsky exposes the danger in worshipping one’s own mind instead of God.
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