Conceptual Babel and Speaking in Conceptual Tongues: The Role of Concepts in Dostoevsky’s 'The Brothers Karamazov'

• In Event: Philosophy and Literature: Mutual Distinctiveness and Reciprocal Bond

Abstract

In this paper I will argue that concepts and concept analysis provide an important point of connection between philosophy and literature. In doing so, I will draw on recent attempts to define concepts as capacities that, for their deployment, depend on context-relative elements. As a case study, I will look at the concept of theodicy (and related concepts of divinity, justice, suffering, and evil) in The Brothers Karamazov.

Author

• Brian Arthur Armstrong, Augusta U