Page 13 - GALIET BENEATH THE ICON: The Lamp Dostoevsky´s Kirillov IV

When Kirillov asserts that for the new man it will be “the same to live or not to live” he insinuates that the new free man will not be attached to the idea of life, as we know it, as we perceive it. In Kirillov’s view, life’s meaning ceases to be important once its inherent purpose becomes living life happily, outside the confines of pain and fear. In a state of perfect bliss and immanence, it might well be possible to kill oneself without feeling any guilt because such action of cause and effect and every other action arising out of it would be accepted as good. Therefore, to be or not to be is not the question philosophically because the moment we become aware of our existence, our being, we dwell in time and space, and we cease to be. The question that haunts humanity is whether Truth is inside or outside of time and space or whether it is absolute or relative. What is Kirillov’s truth?
Although we might interpret Kirillov’s words to explicate and define nihilism, that life for him doesn’t have any meaning, that it doesn’t matter whether he lives or dies, it will prove too simplistic an alternative for such a complex character. The fact is that even for a nihilist like Kirillov things do matter: if emancipation matters, nihilism matters. In this regard, Kirillov’s nihilism becomes a gift of life affirmation as much as a negation for including the act of killing oneself. According to Kirillov, to choose the time and method of death is to have the ultimate power and freedom to live life on his own terms.
• 13 •