Ethical approaches of Kant and Dostoevsky: comparative analysis

The article examines the ethical approaches of I. Kant and F.M. Dostoevsky. Due to the identification of will and reason, I. Kant did not allow anti-moral self-determination of a person, believing that if a person can remain in an extra-moral state, it is only because he is burdened by his sensual nature. F.M. Dostoevsky thought in a different paradigm, according to which reason has lost its substantiality, and the will has acquired autonomy. For this reason, it turned out to be possible for his characters to have an anti-moral self-determination in favor of consciously perceiving the other only as a means and never as an end. Due to the anti-moral self-determination, a person surpasses his natural state and becomes a demonic personality. Further in the article it is shown that the demonic personality is unable to get out of his position in the way that I. Kant suggests - a moral choice - because the choice has already been made. In the spirit of S. Kierkegaard, for a demonic personality, only a religious path is possible - the path of faith, not reason; the way of salvation, not perfection. From this point of view, the article concludes with an interpretation of the legend of the Grand Inquisitor.