This study aims to analyze the concept of ‘zhivaya zhizn'’(живая жизнь, Living Life) as manifested in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment from the perspective of criticizing rationalism. By doing so, this paper seeks to expand the academic horizon of ‘zhivaya zhizn'’ research and contribute a new perspective to recent scholarly trends that focus on the mathematical and scientific logic within Dostoevsky's oeuvre.
Based on an analysis of the utterances of the Underground Man and Razumikhin—who explicitly mention the term—‘zhivaya zhizn'’ stands in direct opposition to rationalism. It eschews the attitude of perceiving life as an object that can be predicted and judged by specific laws, instead recognizing it as an open-ended ‘process.’ Viewed through this lens, the motif of coincidence in Raskolnikov’s narrative serves a dual purpose: it highlights the futility of reducing life to fixed laws and underscores the inherent violence of forcibly calculating and prescribing human existence. Paradoxically, these coincidences eliminate the external evidence of Raskolnikov’s crime, thereby creating a foundation upon which he must manifest his internal will to make the irrational choice of confession.
Ultimately, Raskolnikov’s atonement in the Epilogue is the result of his own volition, compounded by Sonya’s assistance, Porfiry’s psychological pressure, and the external punishment of his Siberian exile. This demonstrates that ‘zhivaya zhizn'’ is the very process of life woven from both external influences and free will. Thus, by encapsulating the intersection of external events and the individual’s subsequent response, the concept of ‘zhivaya zhizn'’ confronts rationalism, which seeks to reduce human beings to mere products of deterministic laws.