Description
This collection of eight essays by world-renowned philosophers and literary critics thoroughly examines the philosophical perspectives of Leo Tolstoy's immortal novel War and Peace. By examining the narrative structure, as well as the struggles and destinies of the central characters, the authors offer in-- depth analyses of the multilayered topics of this work. These topics range from those of war and peace, of the possibility of historical truths, and of freedom and determination, to the issues about friendship, love, living, and dying. Underlying all these discussions is the examination of Tolstoy's preoccupation with the pursuits of truth, goodness, and beauty in a world replete with deceptions, destructions, and artificiality. Taken together, the essays suggest that Tolstoy's novel leaves open the door for the possibility of objective values and judgments, as well as for the possibility of discerning some fundamental truths regarding the value and meaning of human life. The novel's accounts of complex and multifaceted interactions among facts and values, as well as of the intrusion of the extraordinary into the ordinary, challenge readers to reflect on fundamental truths in the context of such interactions and intrusionsif they can only give full attention to what is present, rather than be carried away by constant anticipations of what may come next.
Table of Contents
CONTENTSList of ContributorsTranslations and ReferencesIntroductionPredrag Cicovacki1. Tolstoy on WarRobert L. Holmes2. Overcoming System and "Science" in War and PeaceGary Saul Morson3. War and Peace as a Historical NovelMarie-Pierre Rey4. Denis Davydov's Truth in War and PeaceDonna Tussing Orwin5. Moscow's Urban Form and Spatial Politics in Tolstoy's War and PeaceJulie A. Buckler6. Life Immersed in Love: Natasha, Andrei, and PierrePredrag Cicovacki7. War and Peace and the Origins of Tolstoy's ReligionLina Steiner8. Death and InfinityJeff LoveIndex
