Vienna in the Age of Uncertainty. Science, Liberalism and Private Life by Deborah Coen

Abstract

Reviews 195 As so often in thiswork, we find that the emperors political stance in close-up was wiser and more shrewd and flexible than the popular image of him would suggest. For readers ofAustrian Studies theparticular rewards of thisbook are perhaps to be found in the accounts of Joseph's policies which carried over a decisive legacy and influence into thenineteenth century, and also in those sectionswhich describe Joseph's impact on the city ofVienna, and his relationswith musicians, and with Mozart above all. The sparklingChapter 13provides themost concentrated focus on these last themes, though there are important reflections scattered throughout the volume. Beales has written with distinction onMozart before now, but here presents inmuch greater detail his case that 'Mozart was fortunate infinding in the emperor, for all his quirks, a warm admirer and a steady supporter' (p. 459). The discussion in this chapter and elsewhere across the huge canvas of this study digs deeper than before, especially into the performance history of The Marriage ofFigaro, and it is to be hoped thatBeales will do full justice to hismany insights intoMozart's own works, his milieu and Joseph's patronage policy in a separate monograph. Again, it is invidious to select itbut one neglected aspect of Joseph's domestic legacy that receives itsproper due for thefirst time is thepromulgation of thefirstvolume of theCivil Code, whose originality and importance are described in detail (pp. 544?54): Beales demonstrates convincingly that Joseph's much criticized insistence on pressing ahead with codification at a great pace was in fact essential to its completion. This was more than other contemporary European rulers achieved, andmuch of theGesetzbuch is still in force today. In his conclusion Beales confronts himself and the reader with a number of incisive questions ? was Joseph despotic, was he enlightened, was he revolutionary, what was his legacy, and how importantwas his personality in determining those outcomes? Each of the answers provided isboth judicious and carefully nuanced, as one would expect, but ultimately his verdict is clear and uncompromising: 'he [Joseph] stands out as incomparably themost innovative ruler the Monarchy ever had, and one of themost original thatany country has known' (p. 690). As a result of this book, the product of over thirtyyears of research and reflection, we are now able to assess this thesisforourselves with thebenefit of a new understanding of both reign and era thathas matched Joseph's own reach in leaving no area of foreign or domestic policy untouched. London School of Economics and Political Science Tim Hochstrasser Vienna in the Age ofUncertainty.Science, Liberalism and Private Life. By Deborah Coen. Chicago and London: University ofChicago Press. 2007. 352 pp. $45. isbn 978-0-226-11172-8. The subtitleof thiswide-ranging studyby nomeans covers all of the topics itdeals with: at the very least,Coen could also have added aesthetics, pedagogy, literature and public institutionswith impunity.Cast as amilieu study of themultifaceted, multitalented Exner family and its spheres of influence, Vienna in theAge of Uncertaintydefines itself in contrast to Schorske's analysis of theViennese fin de 196 Reviews si?cle. Coen setsout to challenge the idea thata 'crisisof rationalism' signalled the end of an Austrian liberalism unable to cope with modernist innovation. Tracing the development of scientific theories of probability and anti-determinism over three generations of Exners, she claims that, far from being wedded to dogmatic rationalism, scepticism was one of the central values of Austria's bourgeois liberals and an important source of their moral and political authority.Rather thanfinding themselves inunresolvable conflictwith the fin de si?cle,she argues, their willingness to doubt, combined with an openness to empirical experimentation, helped usher in reforms and radicalism both at mid-century and at the century's end. Coen begins with an account of the life and times of the founder of this academic dynasty, Franz Exner (1802-1853), to whose early years and career as a philosopher and education reformer she dedicates a whole discrete chapter. Later family members are not given such detailed coverage: it is the author's stated intention not toproduce a comprehensive group portrait. Instead,what follows is a roughly chronological whirl of academic achievements and debates, during which 'the Exners...