Culture and cruelty in Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, and Artaud challenges the cultural optimism of the Enlightenment through an examination of Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, and Artaud. The Enlightenment was characterized, as Arnold put it, as "sweetness and light". Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, and Artaud each pushed back against the optimism of the Enlightenment through their writing and advanced the idea of cruelty as lying at the root of all human nature and culture. In this study, Statkiewicz explores the seemingly opposing notions of culture and cruelty within the works of these authors to discuss their complex relationship with one another.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.