PHIL 180 Lecture 13: Tolstoy on Meaning of Life
Document Summary
Leo tolstoy (1828 1910) was a russian writer widely regarded as one of the greatest novelists in all of literature. His masterpieces war and peace and anna karenina represent some of the best realistic fiction ever penned. He also was known for his literal interpretation of the teachings of jesus. Tolstoy became a pacifist and christian anarchist, and his ideas of non-violent resistance influenced mahatma. Near the end of his life, he finally rejected his wealth and privilege and became a wandering ascetic dying in a train station shortly thereafter. At the height of his fame tolstoy experienced a crisis of meaning. He said that he contemplated suicide and could no longer live unless he could find the meaning of his life. He wrote about the crisis in a short (cid:449)ork, (cid:862)a co(cid:374)fessio(cid:374),(cid:863) (cid:449)hi(cid:272)h (cid:449)as (cid:449)ritte(cid:374) i(cid:374) (cid:1005)88(cid:1006) a(cid:374)d first pu(cid:271)lished i(cid:374) (cid:1005)884.
