Philosopy

Running Head : Utilitarianism In The Full Sense Of Empiricism

Utilitarianism : Dostoevsky 's Crime and Punishment

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Introduction

Fyodor Dostoyevsky 's " HYPERLINK "javascript :void (0 " Crime and Punishment " presents us with a philosophical dilemma concerning the issue of utilitarianism that is caused by empiricism . The story in the book dwells on issues of human suffering . Two themes found in the book and that help to highlight the debate of utilitarianism found in the book are suffering , itself and the other is alienation . In the book the characters take

suffering as part of their lives . The main character Raskonlnikov and other characters in the novel suffer a great deal Mamelodov 's sick wife a character in the book , struggles to raise children in poverty . Others become prostitutes , something that increases their sense of suffering e .g . Sonya while Mameladov resorts to heavy drinking that leads to his death

Also the book deeply tackles the theme of alienation from the society of the characters . The alienation the characters undergo is caused by the means they adopt to cope up with their situation of suffering e .g the abuse of alcohol , prostitution , and contemplation of murder . The decisions that the characters take are influenced by the philosophical human principle of utilitarianism and also the philosophical thought of empiricism

Utilitarianism holds that an action is said to be right if it brings the greatest pleasure to the greatest number of society members in the society . For a real follower of utilitarian philosophical thought...