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<p>The paper considers the literary resonance of Hegel’s philosophy of the state and ethical consciousness in relation to the concept of “active love,” first used by Hegel in his <i>Phenomenology of Spirit</i> (1807) and subsequently by Dostoevsky in his last novel, in Zosima’s homilies (<i>besedy</i>). The reading of “active love” in <i>The Brothers Karamazov</i> in the Hegelian philosophical context suggests a new understanding of the ethical message of the novel. This message is neither a “Christian idea” nor a proclamation of atheism, but an affirmation of the unity of the particular (individual consciousness) and the general or universal, in the ethical community [<i>sittliche Gemeinde</i>] of the state. Hegel’s “state” is not an existing state but the philosophical idea of the state as a moral Absolute, whose locus is in the realm of World Spirit which is subject to the historical process. Spirit belongs to the World and is constituted by concrete historical peoples and nations. The state in Dostoevsky’s novel is represented by the metaphor of <i>starchestvo</i> – the Elders who are a “historical phenomenon” yet not a part of official Orthodoxy nor a “sect” or a “cult.” A comparative analysis of “active love” in Hegel’s philosophy and in Dostoevsky’s novel will demonstrate that the phenomenon of <i>starchestvo</i> in <i>The Brothers Karamazov</i> mirrors Hegel’s state, conceived philosophically as a spiritual potentiality, yet not a utopia and not (yet) a historical actuality, which is why the novel appears unfinished. Hegel’s “active love” is not a rule for life, nor a commandment, nor even a feeling, but a relation to an Other, in which the individual consciousness realizes itself as a universal, which potentially elevates it into the realm of ethical law. With the concept of “active love” Dostoevsky closely follows the Hegelian idea of the state as an ethical absolute but conceals half of it (passes it over in silence), using, instead, stylized language to construct a quasi-legendary Church-State, captured in the metaphor of <i>starchestvo</i>.</p>

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“Active love” in The Brothers Karamazov and in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, or what Dostoevsky passed over in silence

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    2025年8月7日

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  • Slobodanka Vladiv-Glover

摘要

The paper considers the literary resonance of Hegel’s philosophy of the state and ethical consciousness in relation to the concept of “active love,” first used by Hegel in his Phenomenology of Spirit (1807) and subsequently by Dostoevsky in his last novel, in Zosima’s homilies (besedy). The reading of “active love” in The Brothers Karamazov in the Hegelian philosophical context suggests a new understanding of the ethical message of the novel. This message is neither a “Christian idea” nor a proclamation of atheism, but an affirmation of the unity of the particular (individual consciousness) and the general or universal, in the ethical community [sittliche Gemeinde] of the state. Hegel’s “state” is not an existing state but the philosophical idea of the state as a moral Absolute, whose locus is in the realm of World Spirit which is subject to the historical process. Spirit belongs to the World and is constituted by concrete historical peoples and nations. The state in Dostoevsky’s novel is represented by the metaphor of starchestvo – the Elders who are a “historical phenomenon” yet not a part of official Orthodoxy nor a “sect” or a “cult.” A comparative analysis of “active love” in Hegel’s philosophy and in Dostoevsky’s novel will demonstrate that the phenomenon of starchestvo in The Brothers Karamazov mirrors Hegel’s state, conceived philosophically as a spiritual potentiality, yet not a utopia and not (yet) a historical actuality, which is why the novel appears unfinished. Hegel’s “active love” is not a rule for life, nor a commandment, nor even a feeling, but a relation to an Other, in which the individual consciousness realizes itself as a universal, which potentially elevates it into the realm of ethical law. With the concept of “active love” Dostoevsky closely follows the Hegelian idea of the state as an ethical absolute but conceals half of it (passes it over in silence), using, instead, stylized language to construct a quasi-legendary Church-State, captured in the metaphor of starchestvo.