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The Man Without Qualities and the Problem of Multiple Realities: Alfred Schutz and Robert Musil Revisited

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The Interrelation of Phenomenology, Social Sciences and the Arts

Part of the book series: Contributions to Phenomenology ((CTPH,volume 69))

Abstract

Providing a relecture of Peter L. Berger’s classical analysis of Robert Musil’s epochal novel The Man without Qualities, an alternative way of using Alfred Schutz’s concept of “multiple realities” will be introduced to emphasize some of the most important aspects of Musil’s work from a sociological point of view. Revisiting the seminal distinction between the world of everyday life and the life-world the paper stresses the importance of multiple levels of reflexivity in Musil’s novel and their analytical kinship to Schutz’s idea of “cognitive styles.”

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See also Berger 1978, p. 343: “there are dimensions of the novel’s world that have nothing to do with [its] location in space and time.”

  2. 2.

    For my actual purpose I will leave aside the question whether Musil here attempted to provide “a solution of the problem of reality from the perspective of modern consciousness” (Berger 1978, p. 343). For other studies on Musil’s novel from a sociological point of view see: (Harrington 2002a, 2002b), Kuzmics and Mozetic (2003), and Wicke (1997).

  3. 3.

    All subsequent numbers, unless otherwise stated, refer to the pagination of the German Edition of The Man without Qualities prepared by Adolf Frisé which first had been published in 1952 (Musil 1978a, b). The following English quotes of Musil’s novel refer to: The Man Without Qualities: A Sort of Introduction, translated from the German by Sophie Wilkins and Burton Pike, 1995 (Vol. I), The Like of It Now Happens (1954, Vol. II), and Into the Millenium (Vol. III, 1960), translated from the German by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser.

  4. 4.

    According to Berger (1978, p. 347) the shocks within everyday life “are both quantitatively and qualitatively more moderate,” because they “still take place within the same ontological coordinates.”

  5. 5.

    Exemplified by a short analysis of Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote (see Endress 1998) analyzing Schutz 1964/1953.

  6. 6.

    A peculiar problem which arises in this context is the “problem of indirect communication,” that is, the “paradox of communication” (Schutz 1945, pp. 573–575). See also Endress (2003).

  7. 7.

    This differentiation of levels of reflexivity to some extent might be comparable to Paul Ricoeur’s differentiation between three models of mimesis, a prefigurated, a figurated, and a reflexive one. Here narration gets enacted again on a reflexive level.

  8. 8.

    Therefore, mere description on the level of geographical and functional differentiation are excluded here, as for example Kakanien (see Musil 1995, pp. 392, 560 ff., 575 f.; cf. Musil 1978a, pp. 361, 514 f., 528 f. and chap. I.8, I.98), the “Parallelaktion” as such (chap. I.19, 21–23, 26, 36, 40, 42–44, 71, 81 and so on; see also chap. II. 34), various aspects according to which the “Parallelaktion” is differentiated in analogy to state affairs and societal strata (Musil 1995, pp. 421, 246; cf. Musil 1978a, pp. 224, 229), or the realm of sports (Musil 1995, pp. 436, 442, 459, 560; cf. Musil 1978a, pp. 402, 407, 422, 513).

  9. 9.

    Possibly also the world of commemoration (i.e. with Agathe chapter II.13) might be mentioned. Here, memory (past) and expectation (future) fuse to a peculiar suffering in or from the present (Musil 1960, p. 120f.; cf. Musil 1978, pp. 759 f.). See also Musil’s descriptions of the world of morals (Musil 1995, pp. 271 326, 351, 396, 442, 444, 485, 525, 552, 555, 616, 620, 624, 646, 648, 697; Musil 1960, p. 91f; cf. Musil 1978a, pp. 251, 302, 324, 365, 408, 410, 446, 481, 506 f., 509, 564, 568, 572, 592–594, 639, 734f., referring here to Nietzsche’s and Descartes’ pleas for a provisional moral (Musil 1960, pp. 3, 97, 104ff., 123, 131f., 190ff., 246, 249, 251, 342, 347ff., 426f., 430f., 440) (“provisorische Moral”, (Musil 1978a, pp. 739f., 746ff., 762, 769f., 821ff., 869, 871f., 873f., 952, 957ff., 1024f., 1027f., 1036).

  10. 10.

    See also the description in transition (“Beschreibungen am Übergang”): Ulrich imagines the “truly experimental life” (Musil 1960, p. 196) (“das wahrhaft experimentelle Leben”, (Musil 1978a, p. 826)); Musil states that “every intense excitement alters one’s picture of reality,” (Musil 1995, p. 310) (“jede heftige Erregung ändert das Bild der Wirklichkeit in ihrem Sinne”, (Musil 1978a, p. 924) and Ulrich reflects about the difference between sanity and insanity (Musil 1995, p. 423; cf. Musil 1978a, p. 1021).

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  1. University of Trier, Faculty IV, 54286, Trier, Germany

    Martin Endress

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  1. Philosophy, St. Louis University, St. Louis, USA

    Michael Barber

  2. Social Science Archive, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

    Jochen Dreher

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Endress, M. (2014). The Man Without Qualities and the Problem of Multiple Realities: Alfred Schutz and Robert Musil Revisited. In: Barber, M., Dreher, J. (eds) The Interrelation of Phenomenology, Social Sciences and the Arts. Contributions to Phenomenology, vol 69. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01390-9_12

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