Musil's Die Schwaermer

Abstract

Because Robert Musil's own training and inclinations were scientific, he was particularly qualified to describe the problems of the modern intellectual. Musil believed that although modern man's reason and logic have been acutely developed, his emotional life has been stunted and his social adjustment has been rendered precarious. Intellectual man finds himself isolated and a victim of introspection. Musil contended that the tension between the intellect and the emotions must be resolved, that solutions must somehow be provided which will lead to a richer and higher level of human existence. In Musil's work the intellectual hero strives to heal the fatal split in his psyche and to achieve a more balanced character and a better integration with other human beings.