Summary
Analysis
While in Moscow, Levin stays with his half-brother, Koznyshev, a philosophical writer whose dense conversation sometimes confuses Levin. When Levin comes home after talking to Oblonsky, Koznyshev is having a debate with a philosophy professor over whether or not there is a difference between psychic (thought-based) and phenomenological (perception-based) existence. Levin asks if he will have no further existence after his body dies, and the professor leaves without answering.
Even though Levin appears to be a country bumpkin, he gets right to the heart of the jargon-filled debate between Koznyshev and the professor, and the professor cannot answer Levin’s question directly, since it is the key puzzle at the center of their argument.