Faustische wetenschap en de Tovenaar. De wetenschap van het leven bij Thomas Mann

Abstract

Faustian Science and the 'Magician. The science of life in the work of Thomas Mann. This paper explores the role of science in the oeuvre of the German novelist, Thomas Mann. Although in general enthusiastic about the scientific enterprise, Mann was rather sceptical about scientific investigations if they touched on metaphysical questions, such as the origin of life. Indeed, when scientists blurred the boundary between the inorganic and the living world, disasters usually followed. I analyze this type of metaphysical and quasi-magical science as 'Faustian science' to which I shall ascribe a number of properties. 'Faustian science' is an excellent instrument that can help to investigate Mann's massive and complex oeuvre. It shows that Mann was well aware of and rather critical about scientists' attempts to 're-enchant the world'. A comparison with Max Weber's Wissenschaft als Beruf puts Mann's views in the perspective of modernity and its dilemmas.