Demons, The possessed, or The Devils is one of Dostoyevsky's rich political novels, a testimonial of life in Imperial Russia in the late 19th century. Dostoyevsky's life of ideas and spiritual realism concept is presented through his definition of evil as the passion for power. The demons are ideas, such as: idealism, rationalism, empiricism, materialism, utilitarianism, positivism, socialism, anarchism, nihilism and atheism.