Ludwig Wittgenstein said that “if a man could write a book on ethics that was really a book on ethics, this book would with an explosion destroy all of the other books in the world.” In
The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky accomplishes this explosion by the highest literary means.
“Man is broad, even too broad,” Dmitri Karamazov tells his brother Alyosha. How does the primal drama of the family Blacksmear (translation of Karamazov from the Turkish and Tartar
kara and the Russian
maz) depict all the depths and heights of the human soul? How does it teach the sterility of abstract reason and the saving power of joyful and active love? How does Dostoevsky’s depiction of revolutionary radicalism illuminate the fundamental issue and struggle of late modernity, and perhaps of human history? Why does the story of the Karamazovs require such dramatic alternations of mood and circumstance—light and joy, suffering and darkness, tragedy and comedy—and why is it woven of such varied materials, including folktales, myths, songs, poetry, scripture, dreams, prayers, homilies, letters, academic essays, newspaper reports, and courtroom drama? This seminar will explore the mythical, psychological, spiritual, and literary richness of what is arguably the greatest of all novels.
The seminar took place on Oct 15-17 (Yale's Fall Break) at the Buckley Institute office in New Haven. Participants will be expected to complete a moderate amount of reading prior to the seminar. Students will receive free course materials, lunch and dinner will be provided for the duration of the seminar, and those who complete the full seminar will be eligible to receive a $150 stipend.
This seminar is open to current Yale undergraduate and graduate students. Applications are due by September 10, 2025.
For any questions, reach out to moe@buckleyinstitute.com.
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Jacob Howland served as Provost and Dean of the Intellectual Foundations Program at the University of Austin from 2022 to 2025. Before that, he was McFarlin Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tulsa, where he taught for 32 years.
Howland is the author of
Glaucon’s Fate: History, Myth, and Character in Plato’s Republic (2018);
Plato and the Talmud (2011);
Kierkegaard and Socrates: A Study in Philosophy and Faith (2006);
The Paradox of Political Philosophy: Socrates’ Philosophic Trial (1998); and
The Republic: The Odyssey of Philosophy (1993). His articles on literature, politics, and the academy have appeared in the
Atlantic,
The Free Press,
The New Criterion,
Commentary,
Newsweek, the
Claremont Review of Books, the
Jewish Review of Books,
City Journal,
Mosaic,
Tablet, the
New York Post,
UnHerd,
Quillette,
Forbes, and
The Nation, among other venues.
