Adverse Advantage: An analysis of the Underground Man's ideas Brian Terwilliger

Armed with a view that strongly opposes the ideas presented by rational egoism, Fyodor Dostoevsky conducts an all-out assault against the theory in his 1864 novella, Notes from Underground. The narrator is a sick, pessimistic man who remains nameless throughout the course of his ranting. Without any recognizable respect for his own health and well being out of pure spite, he is the perfect character to illustrate Dostoevsky's argument against the theory of rational egoism. The narrator decides upon actions that may directly oppose his true interests for the sole reason of proving that he is an unpredictable man who enjoys his own free will and ability to make voluntary decisions of his own, without being restrained by the ideas of rationality and reason.

A particular advantage is revealed in the narrator's philosophical ranting that describes man's ability to decide to act in an unpredictable manner. The narrator challenges the definition of advantage, saying, "What is advantage? Will you take it upon yourself to define with absolute precision what constitutes man's advantage?" (Dostoevsky 15), and continues by introducing his idea of an overlooked advantage that is so important that all the other...