The Seductions of Kantian Idealism

Abstract

This study maintains that Dostoevsky’s monological short story, “Dream of the Ridiculous Man,” is a critique of the impact of Kantian philosophical Idealism on Russian university-trained intellectuals of his age. The protagonist’s discourse has explicit and hidden levels that Dostoevsky sets at odds. The resulting discordance underscores the protagonist’s ridiculousness and the reasons for his ultimate madness. On the explicit level, the narrator tells how, under the influence of a dream, he has given up the philosophical ideals that undermined his empathy for others and embraced brotherly love. On the hidden level, this same discourse reveals that he has rationalized “love” within the framework of Kantian philosophical Idealism as he understands it, so as not to have to experience empathy and act according to his conscience. By analyzing the poetic devices that point to this discordance, and thus to the protagonist’s self-delusion, this paper shows the morally corrupting influence of Kantian philosophy despite its claims to a higher morality. This analysis places the story in a continuum with Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground, and with the problematics of Ivan Karamazov’s character in the Brothers Karamazov.