The present paper analyses an iconoclastic approach to the life and works of Dostoyevsky. Lev Shestov – a Russian existentialist philosopher and the author of The Philosophy of Tragedy – attempts to debunk the myth that Dostoyevsky was the greatest moralist in pre-revolution Russia. Instead of portraying him as a figure of moral authority, Shestov presents Dostoyevsky as a man harbouring resentment, full of hatred and contempt for all the lofty ideals of the Russian intelligentsia of the 19th century.
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