Views about human identity and the meaning of life underwent major changes in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The philosophical changes of the time were related to scientific developments that had been occurring in Western civilization since the seventeenth century. The methods of scientific inquiry were applied to various efforts to understand and improve human life. For example, Karl Marx took a scientific and materialistic view in his argument about the exploitation and alienation of laborers by capitalists. Charles Darwin's scientific inquiry led to the theory of evolution, which challenged the traditional views of religion. Sigmund Freud used scientific methods to explore the unconscious and irrational aspects of human behavior. The work of Marx, Darwin, Freud and others contributed to a "traumatic shift" in human culture (Ambrosio, 2009, p. 45). The shift was traumatic because it forced people to question the traditional view of what it means to be a human being.
Scientific developments had caused many people to adopt a more secular view of the world and human nature. However, there were also conflicting views on how people should interpret the changes caused by modernity. In the early nineteenth century, the liberal and individualistic thinkers of the Romantic Movement "promised to bring about universal harmony and happiness on earth by applying scientific theories in re-engineering society" (Guignon, 1993, p. xiii). In the late nineteenth century, there was a tendency to take the implications of science even further. The thinkers of the late nineteenth century "rejected all traditional Christian values and set out to design an ideal society based solely on the principles of mechanistic materialism" (Guignon, 1993, p. xiii). The contrasting worldviews are reflected in the characters of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel, The Brothers Karamazov. Ivan represents an atheistic view of life, which Dostoevsk...