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The Lion and the Mouse: Dostoevsky and the Hideous Schizophrenia of the West
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The Lion and the Mouse:
Dostoevsky and the Hideous Schizophrenia of the West
Jack Moran
Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Road
Kennesaw, Georgia 30144-5591
(770) 423-6452
Email: ## email not listed ##
Prepared for the 2006 American Political Science Association Conference
Philadelphia Marriott
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Saturday, Sep 2, 2006 (4:15 PM)
Panel: 41-6 Morality, Power, and Politics in Literature
Abstract: It is the argument of this paper that a clearer understanding of the “schizophrenia” described by Sayyid Qutb and other Islamic fundamentalist thinkers might enable Westerners to grapple more effectively with the ideology of Islamic fundamentalism. At the very core of Qutb’s critique of the modern West is his analysis of the West’s contradictory nature – its “distinction between religion and life.” Importantly, there is nothing uniquely Islamic about this message, a point that could not be made more clear than in comparing Qutb’s concern about Western schizophrenia with that of one of the most devout Christian novelists read in the West, Fyodor Dostoevsky. By examining his novel, The Idiot, this paper intends to address Dostoevsky’s understanding of the conflicted nature of the West and its effects upon those who live within it. Ultimately Dostoevsky not only gives us a clear (and disapproving) picture of Western “schizophrenia,” but he comes to a very different conclusion about how to deal with it than did Qutb. He seemed to anticipate the empty promises of the grandiose, utopian philosophies which promised an end to societal contradictions (nationalism, fascism, Marxism, and Islamic fundamentalism). Indeed, he foresaw the one pivotal lesson of the 20
th
century – any imposed solution to end the modern world’s
schizophrenia is far worse than the original condition to begin with.
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The Lion and the Mouse:
Dostoevsky and the Hideous Schizophrenia of the West
Jack Moran
Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Road
Kennesaw, Georgia 30144-5591
(770) 423-6452
Email: ## email not listed ##
Prepared for the 2006 American Political Science Association Conference
Philadelphia Marriott
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Saturday, Sep 2, 2006 (4:15 PM)
Panel: 41-6 Morality, Power, and Politics in Literature
Abstract: It is the argument of this paper that a clearer understanding of the
“schizophrenia” described by Sayyid Qutb and other Islamic fundamentalist thinkers
might enable Westerners to grapple more effectively with the ideology of Islamic
fundamentalism. At the very core of Qutb’s critique of the modern West is his analysis
of the West’s contradictory nature – its “distinction between religion and life.”
Importantly, there is nothing uniquely Islamic about this message, a point that could not
be made more clear than in comparing Qutb’s concern about Western schizophrenia with
that of one of the most devout Christian novelists read in the West, Fyodor Dostoevsky.
By examining his novel, The Idiot, this paper intends to address Dostoevsky’s
understanding of the conflicted nature of the West and its effects upon those who live
within it. Ultimately Dostoevsky not only gives us a clear (and disapproving) picture of
Western “schizophrenia,” but he comes to a very different conclusion about how to deal
with it than did Qutb. He seemed to anticipate the empty promises of the grandiose,
utopian philosophies which promised an end to societal contradictions (nationalism,
fascism, Marxism, and Islamic fundamentalism). Indeed, he foresaw the one pivotal
lesson of the 20
th
century – any imposed solution to end the modern world’s
schizophrenia is far worse than the original condition to begin with.
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