Beyond the Concept: Applying Psychology to Life – Crime, Punishment, and the Russian Mind: Psychology in Dostoyevsky and Beyond

Welcome to Episode 5 of Beyond the Concept: Applying Psychology to Life! In this episode, I explore how Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment connects to Russian psychology and the ongoing debate between free will and determinism.

Dostoyevsky masterfully dives into the psychological turmoil of his protagonist, Raskolnikov, capturing the complex mix of reasoning, fear, and guilt that follows his crime. His novel explores not only the inner workings of a criminal’s mind but also larger questions of morality, justice, and the forces that shape human behavior.

But how does this novel connect to psychology? While Dostoyevsky examined individual consciousness, Soviet psychology, under Lenin and Stalin, rejected the study of free will, focusing instead on external social conditions as the primary force behind human beha ...