The Battle of Freedom and Reason – Thoughts on the Epilogue of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”

Just a few weeks ago I finally finished reading the great War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. And let me tell you it is an incredible work of monumental proportions. The project of this piece is massive and extends to all of humanity and into the most rigorous and infinitesimal levels of truth, life, reality, and thought. I could speak for days on end about all sorts of aspects of the novel from start to finish (which by the way I just may do here on this blog!), but today I wanted to focus my thoughts on the epilogue of the entire novel. Yes we are starting with the end first here – as Christ has said, “the first shall be last and the last shall be first” – and so it shall be with War and Peace too I suppose.

The epilogue is powerful in its intellectual acuity. First it is written in first person narrative and is not fiction at all but rather a philosophical argument that refutes classical approaches to history and posits that the underlying causes of men and nations have still yet to be understood, proven, or explained.

In the second part of the epilogue Tolstoy attempts in his own convincing way to explain the combative relationship between the concepts of freedom (freewill) and compulsion (inevitability). He posits that man is formed by these two opposing forces and that in any given time, depending on the type of activity, man is more or less free to do as he pleases as well as more or less compulsory in his actions. Tolstoy in his appendix states that of matters related more directly and abstractly to himself and his ego he is free (to raise his arm, to write, to not eat, to think and perceive). But when another person or many people as in a nation or community is involved his freedom diminishes into more predictable, possibly even inevitable, actions (protecting an innocent child, fighting an aggressor, moving to a new place for food and shelter, fighting in an army). In this way then man lives on a continuum between freedom of choice for himself and inevitable actions in relation with others.

Throughout the epilogue he provides analogies to science and engineering and nature to further elucidate his points and ideas. They function like analogies for better understanding the concepts. Eventually he also concludes that like all the sciences, history as well does not and cannot explain or provide reasoning for the underlying cause of things. Whether it is what causes electricity or gravity or in the case of history, freewill and power, we are as of yet and perhaps shall forever be unable to explain or reason these vital forces and first causes. In this way Tolstoy is echoing Aristotle’s logic and reasoning behind his proof for God and the unmoved mover – that thing which is behind and beyond the chain of cause and effect. It is fascinating to connecting these two ideas together and consider the actions of man and of men historically with the overarching and piercing insights of God’s omniscience and perfection. It begs the question how much of our decisions are inevitable and how much do we actually control. What exactly is my life’s destiny? Do the decisions I make actually make a meaningful difference in my life? I cannot think they do not. And for this same reason Tolstoy explains that no matter how much evidence or logic we provide to prove that we are not free, we still refuse it and claim our freedom. This is fascinating to me, and because of this Tolstoy explains that this is the oppositional relationship between reason and freedom. Reason perpetually and naturally is always attempting to destroy and limit freedom into complete inevitability. Reason wishes to create laws of life and codify nature and man into a taxonomy of definitions and categories. In this way reason is the enslaver, the imprisoner, the controller, and defined. And in opposition to this, freedom lives. Freedom is the impossible, the incomprehensible, and the unbelievable. Freedom is the power and the will and the cause of life and all things while reason is the examiner, the codifier, the enslaver, and destroyer of life. As Tolstoy states, “Freedom is the content. Reason is the form.” And for this reason, freedom is beyond understanding, beyond limitations, and imprisonment. It is beyond control. It is freedom. It is interesting to note that intellectuals in the arts today are often associated with socialism and communism which is a controlling of economies and markets and decisions of property (reason attempting to control and enslave free men), while intellectuals in the sciences are often associated with atheism and a lack of faith in God or miracles which is also a controlling and limiting of possibilities beyond their comprehension and observational abilities (reason attempting to control and enslave free worship and living). It is also worth noting that historically the aberration of slavery in America was formed under the Age of Enlightenment, that is the age of reason. And this actually makes perfect sense in the context of Tolstoy’s thinking for it is the reasoning mind that continually seeks to confirm the truth, to limit right and wrong knowledge, and to ultimately suppress the freedom of irrationality.

As humans we have and need both of course – freedom and reason – but it is vital to not allow either one to infringe upon the domain of the other. We cannot and do not want free men abandoning reason and doing horrific acts of violence or make economically or medically stupid decisions. Nor do we wish to have men, in the name of reason, enslave or limit our faculties and abilities perhaps not yet fully known even to ourselves from being fully explored or exercised. We need both, and both live within us. To embrace, accept, and apply these truths in proper ways is a vital key to living a masterful and successful and harmonious life.

As you can see all of these various considerations we find in the epilogue of Tolstoy’s War and Peace have profound impacts in both philosophy, theology, and history. Not to mention the grace, splendor, and eloquence of his fiction, writing, storytelling, and character developments. He is a profound man to say the least, and this novel is quite truly one of the greatest pieces of literature I have ever read. The scope and implications are so vast, the perceptions and insights incredibly profound, and the life and beauty so real and memorable. A true masterpiece indeed and a genuine, albeit lengthy, pleasure to read and to contemplate. Thank you my dear wise friend Tolstoy for sharing so much of your grand and poetic heart!