The Meaning of Life and the Tragedy of Choice; Analytical Comparison of Kalileh and Demneh's essays and Tolstoy's A Confession

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Allame Tabatabaii, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jpht.2025.386256.1006088

Abstract

In A Confession, Tolstoy narrates his personal experience of confronting the existential void. In the course of this account, he references an Eastern tale of Indian origin, which is also found in the chapter on the physician Borzuya in Kalileh and Demneh. While Tolstoy’s invocation of this story occurs at a moment of despair in his struggle to resolve the question of life’s meaninglessness, Kalileh and Demneh presents it as an allegory underscoring the necessity of attending to the afterlife. In both texts, faith in an eternal ideal appears to serve as an alternative path for the wayfarer in the face of annihilation. This article argues that a crucial yet overlooked dimension of the tale is the inescapable exclusive dichotomy confronting humanity—embodied in the figure of the traveler: the choice between seeking an objective and transcendent foundation for life’s meaning or, conversely, acknowledging the absence of an intrinsic meaning (including the meaning of the self) and thereby creating significance through the pursuit of fleeting pleasures and the appreciation of present moments. By engaging with the perspectives of transcendentalists such as Craig and anti-transcendentalists including Taylor, Edwards, and Klemke, this study highlights this fundamental existential dilemma as one of the great tragedies of human life in relation to the meaning of existence. It further contends that even in the absence of transcendence or cosmic meaning, it remains possible to ascribe value to earthly existence. The essay concludes with an examination of Flew’s critiques of Tolstoy’s interpretation of the story.

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References

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Philosophy of Religion
Volume 22, Issue 1
April 2025
Pages 17-29

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