Dostoevsky's Novel The Idiot: On the Higher and Lower Nature of Man
The article discusses Dostoevsky's novel The Idiot as a work that explores the two natures of man. The first one is the illusory autonomous solitary nature, characterized by the boundaries that coincide with the boundaries of the separate human body. At a certain stage of development, humanity looks at this nature as the only real one, and according to Dostoevsky here is the only place where the human personality can fully develop in order to enter the fullness of his true nature. Within this first nature, death is inevitable. The second is the true nature of man, who sees as himself and as his own all of humanity and all of creation to the utmost boundaries of the universe. Dostoevsky describes this nature in his record “Masha is lying on the table…”. This second nature erases the barrier between individuals that stops the transmission of sensations and experiences but retains the personal center that provides the distinction of vision and perception between the self and others and unites these distinctions in a single understanding that encompasses all aspects of perception. This nature is immortal. The essence of the second nature in the mental horizon of the first nature is expressed in the ability to love the other as oneself .