The Price of Free Will- The Grand Inquisitor
A dinner reading group on Dostoyevsky's 'The Grand Inquisitor' for students and professionals in the Bay Area.
Time & Location
Jul 01, 2022, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM PDT
Zephyr Institute, 560 College Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306, USA
About the Event
The Brothers Karamazov's poem, "The Grand Inquisitor", is one of the most famous and intellectually rich presentations of how the existence of suffering suggests that God does not exist. In the novel, Ivan Karamazov uses the poem to argue that there is unjust suffering in the world and if God exists, this suffering would have been mitigated if order had been executed differently. In these two sessions, we will examine Ivan’s remarks as well as how the novel unfolds to present Dostoyevsky's reply as an indirect answer to the problems raised.
This seminar will be led by Gabrielle Allen. We will use the Constance Garnett edition of The Brothers Karamazov. Copies are available upon request. Dinner will be provided by the Zephyr Institute.
Gabrielle is a Rice undergraduate with concentrations in Neuroscience and Philosophy. She has a special interest in Russian literature and its role in influencing religion in the 19th and 20th centuries.