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Musil's Moral and Aesthetic Principles
Author(s) -
Genno Charles N.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0730.1983.tb01122.x
Subject(s) - metaphysics , context (archaeology) , epistemology , aesthetics , philosophy , adversary , perception , absolute (philosophy) , computer science , history , computer security , archaeology
This study investigates Musil's moral and aesthetic principles, primarily as revealed in several of his essays and in Der Munn ohne Eigenschaften . Musil is the enemy of everything that makes a pretense of being static. He feels that scientific observation has made the acceptance of old metaphysical and moral concepts impossible. Such scientific observation, he feels, applies to every idea and belief. In considering anything that lays claim to being true, one must realize that there is no yes without a no. Good and evil are functional values dependent of the context in which they are found, and no aesthetic perception has claim to absolute truth. Aesthetics and ethics have one major purpose in common: the uncovering of ever new images of the world and fresh possibilities for fruitful living.