Notorious Crimes, Murderers, and Trials
Your assignment is to write a brief response that connects Raskolnikov, his theories, and modern crime. Before you compose your post, I would like to define some terms and read a little about concepts, philosophical arguments, and other criminals. Look for connections, similarities, and important distinctions.
(Class of 2012: On the back side of the card I want to you define the terms listed on number one. On the lined, front side, I want you to write a brief response that combines numbers 2 and 3.)
1. Define Nietzsche’s Ubermensch, Slave/Master Morality, Herd Mentality, Nihilism.
2. Compare with Raskolnikov’s Extraordinary Man Theory (Part III, Chapter 5, page 242)
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3. Investigate other murders inspired by similar thoughts and compare with Raskolnikov:
For Example:
“Angry Nerds: How Nietzsche gets misunderstood by Jared Loughner types” (The 2011 Tucson Shooting of Congresswoman Giffords).
Other Neitzsche inspired murderers:
Carl Panzram
Ian Brady
James Tulloch and James Parker (the Dartmouth Murderers)
Sebastian Burns and AtifRafay
Melvin David Rees
4. If time and interest permit, explore some of the following:
Other famous murders
Lizzie Borden
Ira Einhorn
Pauline Parker & Juliet Hulme
Mary Bell
Serial Killers
BTK
Jeffrey Dahmer
David Berkowitz
BostonStranlger
Ted Bundy
John Wayne Gacy
The Night Stalker
Other Countries:
Shankill Butchers (Ireland)
Tsutomu Miyazaki (The Japanese Dracula)
Andrei Chikatilo (The Rostov Ripper)
HuWanlin (China)
Pedro Lopez - The Monster of the Andes
Example Responses:
Alyssa J. (Class of 2009)
Reading through Nietzsche’s philosophy, I was initially surprised to read that one of America’s favorite super heroes – the one and only Superman – was adapted from the Übermensch. The German prefix über refers to a superiority, whereas mensch is related to the human species in general. A cynic of Christianity, Nietzsche proposed that the Übermensch is the meaning to life and that one shouldn’t believe in any other “worldly hopes.”
As I first began researching these criminals, I was equally disgusted by the acts of each murderer. But, after reading about the murders committed by Sebastian Burns and AtifRafay, I was even more appalled. Naturally, the first thing that came to my mind was to determine what was going through these 18 year old’s minds as they brutally killed Rafay’s mother, father, and sister. Although no articles I could find went into much detail about it, it was mentioned that the two boys were fans of Nietzsche, studying and supporting his works. They were enticed by the idea of committing “the perfect murder.”
Both of them had just spent their freshman year at Cornell University, with Rafay on a full scholarship. It can be assumed that these boys were mentally stable, at least in the beginning. When asked how he felt about murdering his sister, Rafay said he felt bad about it, but in the end, “[he] felt it was necessary...[he thinks] of it as a sacrifice.” What exactly the boys thought they were going to receive out of the murders, I wasn’t quite able to discern. One report said that the insurance money Rafay would have received was about equal to the money he saved with the full scholarship, which questions the role of money as an incentive.
I found a couple similarities between Raskolnikov’s murder and that of the boys’. For one, these boys seemed to place themselves on high esteem, perhaps a parallel to Raskolnikov’s “Extraordinary Man” theory. These “extraordinary men” are able to make sacrifices for the good of others. I mean, Rafay classified his actions as a worthy “sacrifice.” Also, Burns said in one interview that they were nervous at the beginning of the murder, but once he started there was no turning back. This reminded me of when Raskolnikov killed Alyona, and then proceeded to kill Lizaveta. Once he had already committed the first murder, he wanted to finish what he started.
There is probably much more evidence supporting more correlations between Raskolnikov and the Burns/Rafay case, but this is what I could find as of now.
Unconventional, but interesting response:
Briana P. (Class of 2011)
"For the greater good" has been a recurring phrase defining utilitarianism, as the philosophy focuses on practicality (such as killing one to benefit many), rather than traditional morality.
One of the connections made in the discussion boards was utilitarianism and Hitler who killed approximately twelve million undesirables throughout Europe, including Jews, homosexuals, and Gypsies, in an attempt to make life better for those who he deemed superior.
Now, of course, I take this one step farther and related literature to other literature, as well as to history.
"For the greater good" appears numerous times in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as the key phrase of Grindelwald, the second-darkest wizard in British history, topped only by Voldemort. There are a number of parallels between Grindelwald and Hitler, including that they were both defeated in 1945… The basis of Grindelwald's campaign was not to attempt to spread wealth, as Raskolnikov originally planned as the justification of death of the pawnbroker, but to spread a better lifestyle for wizards everywhere, who he claimed were superior to muggles (non-magical humans).
Grindelwald thought of not only himself as anubermensch, but also the entire wizarding race collectively. He went to extremes in an attempt to bring about positive change in the wizarding world by killing and imprisoning hundreds. He felt that due to the immense amount of power that wizards have, they were destined to make the world a better place - for the greater good.Although I do not justify mass killings (and I think I'll be okay saying this, as the situation is, alas, fictional), Grindelwald did have a point that Hitler and Raskolnikov did not - superiority. It is not right for someone to monopolize or terrorize others simply because they can. However, wizards are clearly superior to muggles, at least in power. Due to magic, wizards can do things that many muggles only dream of, including flying and spellwork. From the utilitarian perspective, it actually makes sense to spread magic, to make the world a more efficient place. However, he was not trying to teach magic to muggles, merely to control them.
Was Grindelwald justified in his attempt to cause wizard rule over muggles? No. But he was, perhaps, more justified than Raskolnikov and Hitler