Intellectuals at Auschwitz: Jean Améry and Primo Levi on the Mind and Its Limits

Abstract

For Jean Améry, the uselessness of intellectual culture in the “borderline situation” of Auschwitz proved the essential incompetence of the intellect as such. For Primo Levi, the intellect served as a precious resource in dealing with the realities of the camp. Levi's debate with Améry, the author of this article argues, is of fundamental value for our understanding of the nature and function of the intellect. A comparison of Améry's spirited defiance of the conditions of existence at Auschwitz with Levi's reflective openness to these same conditions yields convincing evidence of the intellect's essentially social character. Unlike Levi, Améry lacked intellectual companionship at Auschwitz; his testimony therefore reflects the essential deformation the mind suffers when dialogical communion with others becomes impossible.