In the end, Tolstoy concludes that the causes of historical events are simply beyond human comprehension.
Summary:
In the fourth chapter of the first epilogue, (i.e. in the bee hive analogy) and in the essay entitled “A Few Words Apropos of the Book War and Peace ”, Tolstoy comes to the conclusion that in the end the causes of historical events are simply beyond our human understanding.
Quote from the P&V translation:
“Why did millions of men set about killing each other, if it has been known ever since the world began that it is both physically and morally bad? Because it was so inevitably necessary that, in fulfilling it, men were fulfilling that elementary zoological law which the bees fulfill by exterminating each other in the fall, and according to which male animals exterminate each other. No other answer can be given to this terrible question.”
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Second Epilogue, key concept note 15
In the end, Tolstoy concludes that the causes of historical events are simply beyond human comprehension.
Summary:
In the fourth chapter of the first epilogue, (i.e. in the bee hive analogy) and in the essay entitled “A Few Words Apropos of the Book War and Peace ”, Tolstoy comes to the conclusion that in the end the causes of historical events are simply beyond our human understanding.
Quote from the P&V translation:
“Why did millions of men set about killing each other, if it has been known ever since the world began that it is both physically and morally bad? Because it was so inevitably necessary that, in fulfilling it, men were fulfilling that elementary zoological law which the bees fulfill by exterminating each other in the fall, and according to which male animals exterminate each other. No other answer can be given to this terrible question.”
Please help improve this shared document by posting your suggested corrections, clarifications, and changes below. Thank you!