Unde malum? Czesław Miłosz on Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Vladimir Solovyov

Abstract

This article discusses Czesław Miłosz’s essays on Grand Inquisitor by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and A Tale of the Anti-Christ by Vladimir Solovyov. These essays focus on the essence, genesis, and forms of evil, and seek an answer to the unde malum question. Miłosz believes that in world literature there are no other works that show the nature of evil in a similar way. Dostoyevsky’s work, when read from various philosophical perspectives, reveals very complex meanings, as Solovyov demonstrates. Through his engagement with the two great Russian writers, Miłosz’s own work resonates more strongly in the debate about the condition of the modern man.