Dugins “Freedom and Will” section regarding Heideggers is particularly relevant to Pavel Fyodorovich Smerdyakov’s character in The Brothers Karamazov. Specifically, why Smerdyakov is such a strange and hard to read character. Heidigger is highly critical of human beings (in general) and their nature. Midway through Chapter 6, Dugin writes: “Herein lies his uniqueness: he is the most terrible of all that is terrible; he is the most aggressive of all that is aggressive; and he is the most subjugating among all that subjugates” (130). From what I understand from this, is that Heidegger believes that all human beings are inherently negative. This is where Heidegger turns to logos, or “the word of God” to inform our decisions and “boundless freedom” (135). He states: “Philosophy is not about Heraclitus as a man, but about the logos, and we must only listen to it; it philosophizes, and it truly risks.”
Smerdyakov is a bizarre and hard to read character. He seems to lack a moral compass and justifies his outlook on life based on the lack of existence of a God or higher power. Perhaps, Smerdyakov’s strange (and somewhat sadistic) personality comes from his lack of faith (or “logos” as heidegger would say). However, it doesn’t seem fair to only judge Smerdyakov’s personality on a lack of faith. His upbringing and the environments he’s been brought up in are also probably influential to his personality, specifically the fact that his father was mostly absent and his father’s relationship with his mother.
I also think that Heidegger’s ideas of freedom and will relate back to Smerdyakov’s eventual suicide (Note: I have not finished the novel, but I do know some of the later parts from another class I was in). In the suicide note he writes “I exterminate my life by my own will and liking, so as not to blame anybody,” showing his independence as a being and his complete removal from God and society.
Ultimately, Smerdyakov’s characterization could stem from a lack of faith that Heidegger seems to think is necessary for moral development. (*Conclusion*)