Robert Musil's Symptomatology: Oswald Spengler and the Clinical Picture of Society

Abstract

In his essays from the early 1920s, Robert Musil repeatedly called the behavior and modes of thinking prevailing in postwar society "symptoms." Moreover, he claimed that the same conditions that led to World War I were still present after the war. He argued that a process of working through these conditions and the prevailing symptoms was required to avoid another outbreak of large-scale destruction. In the essay "Geist und Erfahrung," Musil found Oswald Spengler representative of a symptomatic manner of thinking. However, he also showed indecision about how to relate to the symptoms he found in Spengler's writing. Besides describing the problems Musil encountered when clarifying the "symptomatic" style of Spengler, this essay clarifies the "clinical picture" of society Musil repeatedly made throughout his life, which is crucial to understanding what he wanted to achieve with Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften.