Literature

‘Notes From Underground’: The Mystery of Free Will and the Failure of Utopianism

Dostoevsky’s work confronts the paradox of free will and the self-destructive impulses at the heart of human nature.
‘Notes From Underground’: The Mystery of Free Will and the Failure of Utopianism
A monument to Dostoevsky in Staraya, Russia, on Aug. 1, 2020. Pavel Sapozhnikov/Shutterstock
Walker Larson
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“Man, whoever he may be, has always and everywhere preferred to act as he chooses and not at all as his reason or personal advantage dictate.” So observes the narrator in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Notes from Underground.” This intense 1864 novella manifests the unpredictability and inscrutability of human nature, exploring the paradoxes of consciousness that lead us to act in irrational and destructive ways, even when we know better.
Title page of the Russian-language 1866 edition of "Notes From Underground." (Public Domain)
Title page of the Russian-language 1866 edition of "Notes From Underground." Public Domain
Walker Larson
Walker Larson
Author
Before becoming a freelance journalist and culture writer, Walker Larson taught literature and history at a private academy in Wisconsin, where he resides with his wife and daughter. He holds a master’s in English literature and language, and his writing has appeared in The Hemingway Review, Intellectual Takeout, and his Substack, The Hazelnut. He is also the author of two novels, “Hologram” and “Song of Spheres.”