Literature Questions
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The basis of value, morality and ethical decisions in Notes from the Underground is man himself. If morality were the only motivation for action we would not have to concern ourselves with it. Instead, human beings often seek advantage, comfort, and pleasure at the expense of others. It is this contradiction that makes ethical decisions difficult and often relativistic. As the narrator, who admits he frequently lies out of ôspiteö says to Liza, ôthe world can go to hell, as long as I can always have my teaö (Dostoevsky 2004). The narrator believes that consciousness is a curse because it robs the individual of self-indulgence when it comes to motives and actions. The narrator likens the condition of mankind in relation to nature and natural laws to a toothache. He argues that the moans someone emits when suffering from a toothache, ôexpress all the aimlessness of the pain which consciousness finds so humiliating, the whole system of natural laws about which you really donÆt give a damn, but as a result of which youÆre suffering nonetheless, while nature isnÆtö (Dostoevsky 2004).In other words, in an often indifferent universe, the narrator believes that happiness can only be gained by repressing the conscious mind in order to feel content about sheer self-indulgence. As he explains, even if it were proven to human beings that they were a piano key, ôeven then [they] still wonÆt become reasonable; [theyÆll] intentionally do somethi
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 907
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page)
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