Pierre and Don Giovanni

Pierre and Don Giovanni

When I was reading Pierre's conversion, I could not help but think of Don Giovanni, the last book we read in Seminar IV. It seemed to me that the life Pierre lived pre-conversion was similar to Don Giovanni's. Both men were guided by passion and were self-centered. But Pierre converts when he realizes that "he had been depraved simply because he had somehow forgotten how nice it is to be virtuous". This brings an interest contrast that raises larger (perhaps too broad) philosophical questions. Are humans able to be happy by simply doing what they want with little regard for others? Or is there some greater, more universal purpose that brings people together? Basically, is a life like Pierre post-conversion any more "right" than the life Don Giovanni lived?

There was a second moment from the conversion scene that struck me. The mason tells Pierre that God "is not attained through reason, but through living". Tolstoy is surely suggesting that an over-reliance on reason brings one away from God. But what exactly does he mean by "living"? Isn't living for human beings connected to being rational? If so, then what is the proper use of reason in Tolstoy's mind?