Lev Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky Through the “Mirror” of Lev Shestov’s Philosophy

ABSTRACT This article compares the works of Lev Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky as interpreted by the philosopher Lev Shestov. The author shows how Shestov analyzes Anna Karenina and War and Peace in light of Nietzschean nihilism and individualism. Criticizing the ideals of goodness and the ethics of compassion, Shestov finds himself on the side of Dostoevsky’s “underground man” as an exponent of an extreme form of egoistic thirst for life. The article outlines Shestov’s transition from Nietzschean atheism and vitalism to early Christian religiosity and mysticism, already evident in his work on Dostoevsky. However, it is still possible to discern the voice of the “underground man” in the cries of the Shestovian Job. Thus, the Nietzschean system of coordinates is preserved in the philosophy of “late” Shestov, one that proved a poor fit for Lev Tolstoy, his understanding of folk life, and his rejection of the idea of individual immortality based on individual egoism.