Politics, Death, and the Devil Self and Power in Max Weber and Thomas Mann [Hardcover]

This sequel to Harvey Goldman's well-receivedMax Weber and Thomas Manncontinues his rich exploration of the political and cultural critiques embodied in the more mature writings of these two authors. Combining social and political thought, intellectual history, and literary interpretation, Goldman examines in particular Weber's Science as a Vocation and Politics as a Vocation and Mann'sThe Magic MountainandDoctor Faustus.

Goldman deals with the ways in which Weber and Mann sought an antidote to personal and cultural weakness through practices for generating strength, mastery, and power, drawing primarily on ascetic traditions at a time when the vitality of other German traditions was disappearing. Power and mastery concerned both Weber and Mann, especially as they tried to resolve problems of politics and culture in Germany. Although their resolutions of the problems they confronted seem inadequate, they show the significance of linking social and political thought to conceptions of self and active worldly practices.

Trenchant and illuminating, Goldman's book is essential reading for anyone interested in political theory, social thought, and the intellectual history of Germany.

Harvey Goldmanis Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author ofMax Weber and Thomas Mann: Calling and the Shaping of the Self(California, 1988).