Dostoevsky (311-0-1)

Instructors

Gary S Morson
1880 Campus Dr. (Kresge) Office 3369
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2:15-4:15 pm

Meeting Info

Annenberg Hall G15: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

In this class we will read two great Dostoevsky novels, Crime and Punishment and The Idiot, along with some extracts from his Diary of a Writer. We will explore what makes Dostoevsky a great novelist and what his ideas about psychology and ethics have to say to us today. Questions raised by these novels include: if people are just material objects, as many believe, is morality entirely a matter of social conventions? If one won't be caught, why not commit crimes? What is intention? How should one face imminent tragedy or death? What is human goodness, and what is the effect of true goodness on other people? Can goodness have bad effects? These and other questions of eternal relevance are explored with special profundity in Dostoevsky's works.

Class Materials (Required)

Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment. Dover Thrift edition.
Dostoevsky, A Writer's Diary: Abridged edition.
Dostoevsky, The Idiot. Barnes and Noble Classics edition.

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area

Associated Classes

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-435: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - Parkes Hall 212: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-435: Fri 9:00AM - 9:50AM

DIS - NO DATA: NO DATA