Bo Isenberg
Associate Professor | Senior Lecturer | Director of Doctoral Studies
Robert Musil – novelist, psychologist, sociologist : Contributions to classical sociology and the analysis of modernity
Author
Summary, in English
The writings of the Austrian novelist and essayist Robert Musil provide sociology
with vital problems and reflections. Indeed, Musil, not least in the novel The Man
without qualities, introduces discussions that extend conventional and recurrent
understanding of modernity – sociology’s general object of analysis. The paper
focuses on three major sets of questions in Musil’s work: 1) the shapelessness of
man, 2) the relation between reason and sentiments, and 3) functional stupidity
(the functionalisation of the mind to collective demands of the party, the race and
the nation). The paper discusses Musil’s arguments by relating them to central
propositions in classical sociology, notably Simmel, Weber, Kracauer, Plessner.
Classical sociology, in turn, is defined as a sub-discourse of classical modern
reflection. An overall purpose of the paper is to present Musil’s reflections on
modernity as essential to social science in general and sociology in particular.
with vital problems and reflections. Indeed, Musil, not least in the novel The Man
without qualities, introduces discussions that extend conventional and recurrent
understanding of modernity – sociology’s general object of analysis. The paper
focuses on three major sets of questions in Musil’s work: 1) the shapelessness of
man, 2) the relation between reason and sentiments, and 3) functional stupidity
(the functionalisation of the mind to collective demands of the party, the race and
the nation). The paper discusses Musil’s arguments by relating them to central
propositions in classical sociology, notably Simmel, Weber, Kracauer, Plessner.
Classical sociology, in turn, is defined as a sub-discourse of classical modern
reflection. An overall purpose of the paper is to present Musil’s reflections on
modernity as essential to social science in general and sociology in particular.
Department/s
- Sociology
Publishing year
2019-03-22
Language
English
Full text
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Document type
Conference paper
Topic
- Social Work
Keywords
- Musil
- classical sociology
- modernity
- contingency
- shapelessness of man
- functional stupidity
- reason and sentiments
Conference name
BALTIC CONNECTIONS: Conference in Social Science History
Conference date
2019-03-21 - 2019-03-23
Conference place
Helsinki, Finland
Status
Published