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God, Man, and Tolstoy
“In a secular age, this fascinating book focuses on Tolstoy’s Christian thought as
elaborated in nonfiction works and illustrated in fiction. Philosophy professor
Predrag Cicovacki, who specializes in issues of good and evil and war and peace,
applies Tolstoyan solutions to them. While not always agreeing with Tolstoy, he
takes him seriously, placing him in dialogue with other thinkers. This side of
Tolstoy is often neglected today; Professor Cicovacki gives us an up-to-date
response to it.”
—Donna Tussing Orwin, Professor and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada,
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Toronto, Canada
“Predrag Cicovacki, a professor of peace and conflict studies, is perfectly situated
to guide us through Tolstoy’s powerful, often infuriating practical ethics. Blending
theology with anthropological argument, he suggests that Tolstoy insisted above
all that we cease to mutilate: ourselves, the world, the resources of the present and
the meaning of love. Not an easy task and Tolstoy can be a stubborn mentor, but
Cicovacki makes a subtle, respectful, even-handed case.”
—Caryl Emerson, A. Watson Armour III University Professor Emeritus of Slavic
Languages and Literatures, Princeton University, USA
“God, Man, and Tolstoy is the kind of book that needs to exist. Academic questions
about authors and their texts, when approached in a vacuum, can end up feeling
trivial, even frivolous, for readers in times of societal disruption and uncertainty.
But Cicovacki’s work leads the reader to a better understanding of why those ques-
tions matter. Tethering academic content to the big questions we all ask about
survival and meaning, Cicovacki reminds the reader why we do philosophy and
seek out literature in the first place. Whether you are discovering Tolstoy for the
first time, or the tenth time, this book is a necessary companion that will help you
better appreciate the enduring relevance of Tolstoy’s legacy.”
—Rebecca Bratten, writer, eco-grower, and independent scholar
“Combining the resources of a trained philosopher with an ear for a great writer,
Predrag Cicovacki has produced an insightful and panoramic evaluation of Tolstoy
the God-driven man who found meaning in becoming a ‘slave’ – of God, not of
man, of the divine truth, not of the fictions of humankind. An impressive
achievement.”
—John D. Caputo, Professor Emeritus, Syracuse University; author of In Search
of Radical Theology: Expositions, Explorations, Exhortations and Cross
and Cosmos: A Theology of Difficult Glory.ii
“Tolstoy was a man of exquisite extremes. And he worked out the dissonant chords
of his fierce concupiscence and towering spiritual aspirations through writing. He
could fabricate astounding and complex emotional worlds like War and Peace
(1869) and Anna Karenina (1878). His writing on peace, love, and non-violence
in The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894) influenced Gandhi and Martin Luther
King Jr. And his Gospel in Brief (1902) greatly influenced the young Wittgenstein.
He wrote with an unusual dexterity and diversity in timbre and tone. Tolstoy was
a genius of spirit who found consonance at last in the presence of the divine both
within and all around him as outlined in his A Confession (1882).
Tolstoy overwhelms and intimidates. Approaching him leaves readers with the
feeling of Caspar David Friedrich’s Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. His person and
oeuvre is an uneven and sprawling mountain range. Where does one start? And can
one finish?
Predrag Cicovacki is an expert guide through the ranging mountain that is
Tolstoy. Perhaps there are scholars of Tolstoy and Russian literature who could
produce a rival contextualizing of Tolstoy’s place in both literature and humanity’s
spiritual pilgrimage. But Cicovacki captures the Tolstoy’s genius of spirit with
enviable clarity and sensitivity. A fine philosopher of religion and spirituality in his
own right, Cicovacki has produced a fantastic text not simply on Tolstoy and his
prodigious life, but on the fantastic failures and soaring sensations of the human
experience. We owe Professor Cicovacki a debt of gratitude for this fine book.”
—Michael J. Thate, Princeton University; author of The Godman
and the Sea and Remembrance of Things Past?Predrag Cicovacki God, Man, and Tolstoy
Predrag Cicovacki Department of Philosophy College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA, USA ISBN 978-3-030-89343-9 ISBN 978-3-030-89344-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89344-6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or here- after developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
There is no other way: either be a slave of man or of God.
—TolstoyIn memory of Nalin Ranasinghe
(1960–2020)Contents
1 Introduction: Tolstoy’s Quest for God and Meaning 1
2 Society 15
2.1 Why Society Exists? 15
2.1.1 Facts and Fictions 15
2.1.2 Either God or Man? 18
2.1.3 Mutilations by Means of Fictions 21
2.2 Mutilations of the Soul 23
2.2.1 The Perennial Philosophy and Its Modern Reversal 23
2.2.2 Putting the Soul to Sleep 28
2.3 Social Hypnotism, Hierarchy, and Hypocrisy 32
2.3.1 War and Moral Conflicts 32
2.3.2 Evil Truths and Social Lies 38
2.3.3 Prisoners and Prisons 42
2.4 Religious Anarchism 44
2.4.1 Rejecting Institutional Authority 44
2.4.2 Society Based on Brotherly Love 48
2.4.3 Nonviolence and Moral Sublimity 55
2.5 What Is Truth? 58
3 Nature 63
3.1 The Nature of Nature 63
3.1.1 A Symbol of Nature 63
3.1.2 Nature, Society, and Spirituality 65
ixx Contents
3.2 Mutilations of the Body 70
3.2.1 The Hunter and the Hunted 70
3.2.2 Circumcision and Torture 75
3.3 Woman—Nature’s Temptation 78
3.3.1 Adam and Eve 78
3.3.2 A Love Triangle 83
3.3.3 Desiring More, Choosing Less 86
3.3.4 Castration, Celibacy, or Personal Love? 92
3.4 Fruit—Nature’s Art 95
3.4.1 Tolstoy’s Struggle with Music 95
3.4.2 The Nature and Purpose of Art 98
3.4.3 Music as the Mute Prayer of the Soul105
3.5 Serpent—Nature’s Wisdom109
3.5.1 Creativity in Nature109
3.5.2 Daoism: A Flow of Nature112
3.5.3 Tolstoy’s Daoism115
3.6 Nature’s Meaning?121
4 Spirituality127
4.1 Faith and the Meaning of Life127
4.1.1 The Quest for Meaning127
4.1.2 Tolstoy’s “Eastern Fable”132
4.1.3 Wrestling with God140
4.2 Mutilations of the Spirit143
4.2.1 Tolstoy’s Troika: Truth, Goodness, Love143
4.2.2 Morality Versus Spirituality146
4.2.3 Searching for the Third Way152
4.3 The Sermon on the Mount154
4.3.1 The Puzzling History of the Sermon154
4.3.2 The Content of the Sermon156
4.3.3 Tolstoy’s Interpretation of the Sermon159
4.3.4 The Spirit of the Sermon165
4.4 The Kingdom of God170
4.4.1 The Kingdom as a Fact and as a Fiction170
4.4.2 A Promise of the Kingdom173
4.4.3 Our Identity with God?178
4.4.4 The Presence of God181
4.5 Spirit Over Spirit?186Contents xi
5 God and Man189
5.1 The Puzzling Nature of God189
5.1.1 God and Good189
5.1.2 The Nameless God?193
5.2 Mutilations of the Divine197
5.2.1 Mutilations by Language and Thought197
5.2.2 Disambiguating the Inherently Ambiguous?202
5.2.3 Devotion Without Mutilation209
5.2.4 Experiencing the Sublime217
5.3 Man’s Wrestling with God222
5.3.1 The Dialectic of Slavery and Freedom222
5.3.2 God’s Servant Job230
5.3.3 God as a Real and as an Ideal Being234
5.3.4 Recovering the Joy of Being Alive238
5.4 Redefining the Bond Between God and Man243
5.4.1 Finding God Without Seeking243
5.4.2 The Power of Belief250
5.4.3 The Mutual Dependence of God and Man256
5.5 Reclaiming Our Humanity262
5.5.1 Personality262
5.5.2 Reaching God Through Faith and Trust269
5.5.3 Bestowing Meaning Through Freedom
and Creativity273
5.6 Shall We Be as Gods?277
6 Epilogue: Our Longing for God and Meaning285
Index289List of Figures
Fig. 2.1 The identification-orientation circle 17
Fig. 2.2 The realms of being 19
Fig. 2.3 The intra-social triangle (1) 29
Fig. 2.4 The intra-social triangle (2) 31
Fig. 2.5 The intra-social triangle (3) 32
Fig. 3.1 The relationships of nature, society, and spirituality 69
Fig. 3.2 Tolstoy’s view of the relationship of religion, science, and art 102
Fig. 5.1 The fish symbol 210
Fig. 5.2 The intercrossing of the divine and the human 211
Fig. 5.3 The relationship of the real, the ideal, the rational, and the
nonrational217
Fig. 5.4 God and man as counterparts 264
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