Dostoevsky

The Brothers Karamazov , like many of Dostoevsky’s works, is partly an attack on Western rationalism. For Dostoevsky, this rationalism is manifested in the insistent question, Why? Why should a father love a son, or vice versa? Dostoevsky’s answer is partly taken from the story of Job: Why should Job love a second set of children after losing a first? Dostoevsky cannot explain why or how; but he (through Father Zossima) simply says, “He did.”

I’ve thought the best way to summarize Dostoevsky’s point is with a variation on the Anselmian credo ut intelligam . Dostoevsky would say instead, amo ut intelligam .