The Void of Ethics: Robert Musil and the Experience of Modernity (Avant-Garde & Modernism Studies)

In a pluralistic society without absolute standards of judgment, how can an individual live a moral life? This is the question Robert Musil (1880-1942), an Austrian-born engineer and mathematician turned writer, asked in essays, plays, and fiction that grapple with the moral ambivalence of modern life. Though unfinished, his monumental novel of Vienna in the febrile days before World War I, The Man without Qualities, is identified by German scholars as the most important literary work of the twentieth century. In a fresh examination of his essays, notebooks, and fiction, Patrizia McBride reconstructs Musil's understanding of ethics as a realm of experience that eludes language and thought. After situating Musil's work within its contemporary cultural-philosophical horizon, as well as the historical background of rising National Socialism, McBride shows how the writer's notion of ethics as a void can be understood as a coherent and innovative response to the crises haunting Europe after World War I. She explores how Musil rejected the outdated, rationalistic morality of humanism, while simultaneously critiquing the irrationalism of contemporary art movements, including symbolism, impressionism, and expressionism. Her work reveals Musil's remarkable relevance today-particularly those aspects of his thought that made him unfashionable in his own time: a commitment to fighting ethical fundamentalism and a literary imagination that validates the pluralistic character of modern life. "In a pluralistic society without absolute standards of judgment, how can an individual live a moral life? This is the question Robert Musil (1880-1942), an Austrian-born engineer and mathematician turned writer, asked in essays, plays, and fiction that grapple with the moral ambivalence of modern life. Though unfinished, his monumental novel of Vienna in the febrile days before World War I, The Man without Qualities, is identified by German scholars as the most important literary work of the twentieth century. In a fresh examination of his essays, notebooks, and fiction, Patrizia McBride reconstructs Musil's understanding of ethics as a realm of experience that eludes language and thought. After situating Musil's work within its contemporary cultural-philosophical horizon, as well as the historical background of rising National Socialism, McBride shows how the writer's notion of ethics as a void can be understood as a coherent and innovative response to the crises haunting Europe after World War I. She explores how Musil rejected the outdated, rationalistic morality of humanism, while simultaneously critiquing the irrationalism of contemporary art movements, including symbolism, impressionism, and expressionism. Her work reveals Musil's remarkable relevance today-particularly those aspects of his thought that made him unfashionable in his own time: a commitment to fighting ethical fundamentalism and a literary imagination that validates the pluralistic character of modern life."--Publisher's description In a fresh examination of this work, as well as his other fiction, essays, and notebooks, Patrizia C. McBride reconstructs Musil's understanding of ethics as a realm of experience that eludes language and thought. After situating Musil's work in its cultural, historical, and philosophical context, McBride shows the writer's notion of ethics to be a coherent and innovative response to the crises haunting Europe after World War I. She explores how Musil rejected the outdated, rationalistic morality of humanism while simultaneously critiquing the irrationalism of contemporary art movements such as Symbolism, Impressionism, and Expressionism. Her work reveals Musil's remarkable relevance today-particularly those aspects of his thought that made him unfashionable in his own time: a commitment to fighting ethical fundamentalism and a literary imagination that validates the pluralistic character of modern life Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 12 Introduction: An Unfashionable Modernist......Page 16 1. Toerless and the Delusions of Sensuality......Page 40 2. The “Mathematical Man,” or The Advantages of Scientific Precision......Page 66 3. World War I and the Troubles of a “Time Devoid of Ordering Concepts”......Page 88 4. Kant and the Ethos of Aesthetic Judgment......Page 110 5. Staging the Failure of an Aesthetic Utopia: The Man without Qualities......Page 141 Postscript: Fragments of an Inductive Ethos......Page 178 Notes......Page 182 Works Cited......Page 226 Index......Page 238 How can an individual live a moral life in a pluralistic society that lacks absolute standards of judgment? This is the question Robert Musil (1880-1942), an Austrian-born engineer who studied philosophy, mathematics, and psychology before becoming a writer, asked in works that grapple with the moral ambivalence of modern life. Though unfinished, his monumental novel of Vienna in the febrile days before World War I, The Man without Qualities, is identified by German scholars as one of the most important literary works of the twentieth century An unfashionable modernist Törless and the delusions of sensuality The mathematical man, or the advantages of scientific precision World War I and the troubles of a "Time devoid of ordering concepts" Kant and the ethos of aesthetic judgment Staging the failure of an aesthetic Utopia: The Man Without Qualities "How should one live?" Fragments of an inductive ethos. This study of Robert Musil's writings reconstructs his understanding of ethics as an experience that eludes language and thought. Situating his work within its contemporary cultural-philosophical horizon and the historical background of National Socialism, the notion of ethics as void can be understood as a response to the crises after World War I.