Deaths in Venice

by Kitcher, Philip;

  135. TB (1937–1939) 179–180.

  136. See Essays 1:49, cited in section 1 of chapter 1 (text to n. 12).

  137. As noted above, the attitude of partial affirmation and partial resignation is difficult to sustain, and the difficulty is exacerbated for those whose endeavors center on critical probing.

  138. Someone inspired by the closing measures of Das Lied might extend this by allowing value to accrue from contributions to the maintenance of nonhuman life, to the preservation of the earth and its beauties. Contributions of this sort are rarely, if ever, detached from promotion of other human lives, so I shall explore what I take to be a far more typical pattern.

  139. My formulation incorporates an addition derived from Humboldt and Mill (and seconded by Nietzsche in some of his guises), to wit that the mode in which the connections are made should be a matter of the agent’s choice.

  140. Analogous in some respects to the world Wotan contemplated long before the opening of the Ring, a world of innocent joy personified by the Rhinemaidens.

  141. Mann follows Nietzsche in thinking of self-probing as constitutive of serious art (see chapter 1, text to nn. 13 and 14). I allow for the possibility of other modes and other themes that suffice for artistic contribution at the highest level.

  142. The phrase is Mill’s. See the closing paragraphs of A System of Logic, vol. 8 of Works of John Stuart Mill (Indianapolis, Ind.: Liberty Fund), 952.

  INDEX

  Page numbers refer to the print edition but are hyperlinked to the appropriate location in the e-book.

  Adler, Jeremy, 200n54

  Adorno, Theodor, 239n78, 241n88

  Alcibiades, 72, 94, 99

  Alfred (character in Morte a Venezia), 28, 130, 131, 132, 152, 189, 234n21

  Anderson, Mark, 194n5, 224n119, 224n120

  anti-Semitism, Thomas Mann and, 116, 229n177

  Apollonian, 26–28, 189, 205n95, 205n97, 206n104, 206n108, 207n109, 227n160

  Aristotle, 11, 18, 21, 22, 25, 199n50

  artist, role of, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70–71, 72, 82, 94, 95, 96, 99, 101, 102, 107, 121, 122, 187. See also Erzieher; Künstler

  asceticism, 49, 50, 53, 60, 211n147. See also Nietzsche, ascetic ideal

  Aschenbach, Gustav von, 2, 3, 7, 55; childhood of, 84, 127, 135, 208n120; daily routine of, 37, 83, 104, 134; death of, 29, 30, 60, 97, 106, 110, 112, 125–29, 133, 171–76, 225n144, 243n105, 243n109; dedication to beauty, 28, 70–71, 73, 76, 79, 83, 99, 101, 104, 110, 122, 152, 176, 218n29, 225n144; ill-health of, 38, 127, 130, 133, 135, 136, 152, 172; marriage of, 87, 135; moral degeneration of, 26, 38–46, 58–59, 72, 99, 101, 113, 114, 122; represented as composer, 28, 130–31, 133–34, 135, 136, 152, 172, 175; respectability of, 7, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 107, 111, 114, 197n32; sexual orientation of, 62, 63, 64, 65, 73, 83, 84, 89, 92, 93, 94, 104, 105, 106, 114, 135, 196n21, 220n44; social isolation of, 37, 83, 113, 188; Socratic reflections of, 29, 38, 72, 73, 83, 95, 99, 101, 102, 105, 112, 130, 136, 153, 225n144, 243n108; status as writer, 26–30, 57, 59, 60, 68, 107, 111, 114, 122, 123, 129, 176, 188, 189, 206n108; as victim, 62; works of, 41, 74, 134, 140, 146, 176, 188, 193n2, 206n108, 220n44

  Auden, W. H., 103, 226n150

  autonomy, 18, 66, 113–14, 229n172. See also Kant, Immanuel; Mill, John Stuart

  Bauer-Lechner, Natalie, 236n49

  beauty, 28, 32, 63, 64, 68, 69, 76, 79, 80, 82, 83, 93, 94, 96, 99, 104, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 152, 172, 218n28, 218n29; lure of, 96–99, 101, 102, 107, 113, 114, 122, 136, 225n144, 243n105. See also “higher” beauty

  Beethoven, Ludwig van, 62; Für Elise, 132, 150

  Benedig, Katrin, 223n100

  Bennett, Jonathan, 200n58

  Bentham, Jeremy, 244n121

  Bertram, Ernst, 193n1

  Bethge, Hans, 138, 153, 155, 160, 162, 163, 167, 240n79, 241n87, 241–2n92, 242n93, 242n94, 242n95

  “Bilse” novels, 3, 19, 195n11

  Bloom, Harold, 204n86

  Bogarde, Dirk, 129

  Bridcut, John, 225n145

  Britten, Benjamin, 10, 120, 122, 163, 169, 190, 191, 225n145; Albert Herring, 227n156; Billy Budd, 107–12, 113, 227n163, 228n164, 228n169; Death in Venice, 102–7, 109–12, 114, 126, 129, 130, 179, 190, 212n162, 214n185, 226n147, 226n148, 227n147, 227n163, 228n167, 228n168, 233n6, 233n15; Hymn to the Virgin, 228n169; Les Illuminations, 228n165; Peter Grimes, 107; Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, 103, 226n151; War Requiem, 104, 228n169

  Broch, Hermann, 12–13, 200n54

  Buddenbrook, Bethsy (Frau Konsulin), 54–55, 56, 58

  Buddenbrook, Christian, 5, 55, 107

  Buddenbrook, Gerda, 5, 6

  Buddenbrook, Hanno, 4, 5, 6, 225n132

  Buddenbrook, Thomas, 5, 6, 8, 18, 34, 174, 196n23, 198n38, 198n41, 225n132

  Bürger (citizen), Mann’s conception of, 5, 6, 7, 24, 30, 43, 50, 61, 64, 68, 85, 94, 95, 102, 107, 113, 195n20, 196n21, 216n11

  Carnegy, Patrick, 226n148, 233n16

  Carpenter, Humphrey, 226n146

  Carr, Jonathan, 234n19, 237n56, 237n60, 237n61, 239n72

  Carroll, Lewis, 200n58

  Cartwright, Nancy, 23, 25, 149

  Castorp, Hans, 2, 58, 194n7

  Cavell, Stanley, 204n91

  Chekhov, Anton, 218n29

  cholera, 2, 30, 38, 76, 110, 113; as cause of Aschenbach’s death, 126–29, 133, 224n127, 233n6, 233n7, 233n13, 233n15

  Christianity, 17, 111, 112, 142, 143–44, 145, 170, 228n164, 228–29n169

  Claggart, John, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112, 172

  coda to Death in Venice, 29–30, 59, 106, 112, 125, 126, 153, 172–75, 186, 208n117, 243n105

  Cohn, Dorrit, 205n103

  Cooke, Deryck, 142–43, 170, 237n58

  Damasio, Antonio, 201n60, 201n61

  Dante, 11, 199n50, 200n58

  Danuser, Hermann, 237n51

  death, premonitions of, 125, 126, 133–34, 135, 136, 138, 139–40, 146; quality of, 53–54, 112, 123, 126

  de La Grange, Henry Louis, 234n23, 236n41, 236n43, 238n67, 239n71, 240n79, 240n82, 242n102

  Delassalle, Béatrice, 234n17

  de Mendelssohn, Peter, 2, 222n100

  Detering, Heinrich, 193n1

  Deussen, Paul, 235n27

  Dewey, John, 25, 65, 182, 201n64, 217n12, 245n126

  Dichter, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 19, 67, 86, 194n5, 195n18

  Dickens, Charles, 11, 17, 190; Bleak House, 17, 181, 183, 184, 245n125; Hard Times, 11, 17

  Dierks, Manfried, 198n42, 199n49, 205n97

  Dionysian, 26–28, 57, 106, 110, 207n109, 207n112, 227n160, 240n85, 241n86

  Diotima, 32, 72, 77, 188, 189

  discipline, 37, 52, 53, 58, 60, 64, 69, 87, 94, 95, 96, 99, 102, 104, 115, 121, 122, 136; breakdown of, 38–46, 83, 97

  education, 65–66, 72, 101, 208n124, 217n12

  Ehrenberg, Paul, 67

  Eliot, George, 11, 12

  Elliott, Graham, 229n169

  Erzieher (educator), 66, 67, 69, 70–71, 72, 85, 94, 96, 99, 100, 121, 172, 187, 217n19. See also education

  “Esmeralda” (Doctor Faustus), 132, 235n25, 235n26

  ethical judgment, 17, 121–23, 185, 186

  Evans, Peter, 226n148, 227n159

  Fechner, Gustav Theodor, 170, 171, 183, 242n102. See also panpsychism

  Feder, Stuart, 234n18, 236n38, 236n41, 246n134

  Floros, Constantin, 234n24, 237n51, 237n56, 238n67, 239n71, 239n77, 246n134

  foundationalism, epistemological, 16–17

  Friedemann, Johannes, 5, 56, 64, 96–97, 98, 107

  Gatens, Moira, 201n64

  Goethe, Johann Wolfgang, 13, 38, 65, 67, 84, 194n5, 197n33, 209n135, 211n151, 211n158, 217n26; as character in Lotte in Weimar, 84, 85, 90, 92, 121, 197n33, 217n26, 222n87

  Goodman, Nelson, 245n130

  Gordon, Emily Fox, 232n215

  grades of philosophical involvement, 11–12, 17, 47, 52, 241n86

  Graham, Colin, 226n148

  Grauthoff, Otto, 35, 99, 210n146

  “Greek idyll,” 45, 70, 104, 106
, 126, 206n103

  Gropius, Walter, 139, 246n134

  Hampshire, Stuart, 23

  heart failure, as cause of Aschenbach’s death, 129, 133

  Hefling, Stephen, 240n85, 241n88

  Heine, Heinrich, 76

  Hermes, 126, 175, 177, 213n169, 218n30, 243n113

  Heuser, Klaus, 89–90, 223n109

  “higher” beauty, 68, 69, 70, 71, 82, 100; erotic responses to, 71, 72, 82, 85, 96, 101, 218n28, 225n144; young men as embodiment of, 71, 72, 100, 107, 109, 218n30

  Hoffmann, Martina, 198n42, 205n97

  Hofmann, Paolo, 5

  Homer, 22, 27–28

  homosexuality, 39, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67–68, 71, 73, 74, 75–82, 83, 87–91, 102–3, 104, 115, 118, 120, 135, 136, 216n11, 219n36; incomplete sexual expression, 80–82, 83, 84, 89–91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96; vision and, 80, 83, 89, 93, 95, 96, 101, 223n106

  Humboldt, Wilhelm, 229n172, 246n139

  Ibsen, Henrik, 61

  Isherwood, Christopher, 226n150

  imagination, role of in reading, 17, 24, 201n64

  irony, 10, 27, 39, 60, 129, 194n7, 215n204, 229n170

  Iwanowna, Lisaweta, 6, 7, 64

  James, Henry, 11, 12

  James, William, 31, 51

  Jaschu, 29, 59, 69, 106, 110, 130, 172, 216n215, 222n88

  Joseph, 97–98, 100–101, 113

  Joyce, James, 13, 21, 24, 25, 194n5; Dubliners, 22, 36, 189; Finnegans Wake, 13, 22, 23, 122, 189, 202n68, 204n85, 225n140; Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 21, 22, 189; Ulysses, 13, 21, 22, 23, 189, 196n23, 202n68, 203n78, 204n80, 225n138; anti-elitism, 22–23, 189

  Kant, Immanuel, 18, 33, 34, 47, 48, 66, 68, 171, 208n129, 209n131, 209n135, 229n172

  Kassner, Rudolf, 214n183

  Keats, John, 136, 235n36

  Klaus Heinrich, 86–87, 92. See also Mann, Thomas, Royal Highness

  Kröger, Tonio, 6, 7, 24, 30, 50, 52, 62, 63, 64, 100, 102, 107, 187

  Krull, Marianne, 230n185, 230n190, 230n191, 231n196, 232n204

  Künstler (artist), Mann’s conception of, 5, 6, 7, 24, 30, 62, 64, 68, 85, 187, 196n21, 216n11

  Kurzke, Hermann, 198n42

  Lebrecht, Norman, 237n62

  Leverkühn, Adrian, 54, 55–56, 103, 104, 132, 140, 177, 178, 187, 215n202, 215n203, 215n204, 234n21, 235n25, 235n26, 235n27

  Lion, Ferdinand, 8

  life, value of. See philosophy, oldest question of

  literature, as medium for philosophy, 11–19, 21–26, 179–87

  Mahler, Alma (née Schindler), 130, 137, 138, 139, 147, 152, 187, 236n42, 239n77, 240n79

  Mahler, Anna (“Gucki”), 130, 139

  Mahler, Gustav, 13, 130, 131, 132, 136, 140, 171, 185, 188, 189, 190, 191, 236n38, 236n39, 241n86; Adagietto (Fifth Symphony), 132, 147–50, 152, 238n68 239n72, 239n71, 239n75, 239n77; Das Lied von der Erde, 138–39, 153–71, 172, 173, 174, 175, 178, 179, 182, 183, 186, 187, 236n43, 240n79, 240n83, 240n84, 240n85, 241n86, 241n87, 241n89, 242n93, 242n94, 242n95, 242n96, 243n105; Kindertotenlieder, 130–31, 144–45, 148–51, 182, 238n63, 238n64, Rückertlieder, 148–50, 239n72; Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”), 141–43, 170, 183, 236n49, 237n57; Symphony No. 3, 132, 133, 143, 240n85; Symphony No. 4, 146, 238n67; Symphony No. 5, 146, 147, 153, 239n75, 239n78; Symphony No. 6, 237n54, 238n68; Symphony No. 7, 242n102; Symphony No. 8, 134, 143; Symphony No. 9, 139, 187, 246n134; Symphony No. 10, 139, 187, 246n134; death of, 134, 138, 139, 236n41; ill-health of, 137, 138, 152, 153, 234n19, 236n42, 240n79; Jewish ancestry of, 135, 143, 237n59, 237n60; 239n72; marriage of, 135, 139, 236n45, 239n77, 246n134; symphonic programs, 140–42, 237n50, 237n51;

  Mahler, Maria (“Putzi”), 130; death of, 130, 137, 138, 139, 152, 153

  Mann, Elizabeth (“Medi”), 114, 118, 119, 194n5, 231n203

  Mann, Erika, 103, 114, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122–23, 226n150, 230n191, 231n199, 231n202

  Mann, Fridolin, 119, 231n204

  Mann, Golo, 103, 114, 120, 212n164, 222n96, 232n211, 232n212

  Mann, Heinrich, 2, 115, 125, 126, 134, 153, 195n16, 224n123, 229n176

  Mann, Katia (“Katja,” née Pringsheim), 1, 2, 37, 86, 87, 88, 90, 91, 92, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 121, 122, 134, 187, 211n149, 213n164, 219n40, 220n55, 222n89, 222n100, 223n102, 223n115, 223–4n116, 229n174, 229n176, 230n177, 230n191, 231n202

  Mann, Klaus, 88, 90, 91, 114, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 223n113, 230n190

  Mann, Michael (“Bibi”), 114, 117, 118, 230n185, 231n197, 231n204

  Mann, Monika, 114, 119–20, 232n206

  Mann, Thomas: Buddenbrooks, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 194n6, 195n16, 196n23, 198n38; Confessions of an Unpolitical Man, 7, 207n114; Death in Venice, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 15, 17, 19, 26, 63, 114, 122, 125, 134, 195n16; Das Gesetz, 204n89; Der Erwählte, 204n89, 232n2; Der kleine Herr Friedemann, 56–57, 63–64, 96–97, 98, 210n146, 224n126; Der Wille zum Glück, 5; Doctor Faustus, 9, 40, 54, 55–56, 103–4, 114, 117, 132, 140, 177, 194n6, 199n43, 210n145, 213n169, 215n202, 215n203, 215n204, 226n154, 229n173, 230n177, 232n204, 234n21, 235n25, 235n26, 235n27, 236n46, 244n119; Felix Krull, 2, 193n3, 196n27, 196n30, 243n113, 245n133; Fiorenza, 1; Gesang vom Kindchen, 194n5; Joseph and His Brothers, 92, 97–98, 100–101, 113, 114, 194n6, 204n89, 206n103, 223–4n116, 225n130, 225n137, 229n170, 243n113; Lotte in Weimar, 84, 85, 90, 92, 116, 121, 197n33, 213n169, 217n26, 222n85, 229n173; Magic Mountain, 9, 58, 114, 117, 194n6, 210n145, 232n2; Royal Highness, 1, 3, 4, 67, 86–87, 115, 193n1, 194n6, 195n16, 204n93, 220n55 232n213; Schwere Stunde, 5, 197n33; Tonio Kröger, 1, 2, 5, 6, 63–64, 65, 100, 187, 195n16, 196n27, 196n30; Wälsungenblut, 203n76; annotations of philosophical texts, 29, 33, 47; as philosopher, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 24, 47–48, 51, 52, 60, 179–91, 202n67, 210n140, 214n186, 246n141; daily routine of, 37, 40, 41, 213n168; diaries of, 40, 59, 63, 73, 84, 87, 88, 90, 92, 115, 118, 119, 194n5, 197n35, 212n164, 219n40, 222n96, 222n100, 226n154, 229n174; marriage of, 1, 87–88, 114, 115, 211n149, 213n164, 220n55, 222n89, 222n100, 223n102, 223n115, 223–4n116, 224n123, 229n174, 230n179; medical knowledge, 128–29, 233n11; pessimism and, 37, 115, 122; philosophical allusions in Death in Venice, 7, 11, 18, 19, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35–36, 37, 47, 48, 51, 60, 66, 67, 71, 73, 74, 103, 130, 171, 207n114, 207n115, 214n183, 216n11; presentations of death, 54–59; projected works, 2, 3, 4, 41, 211n158, 217n26, 220n44; reactions to Mahler, 134, 139, 158, 241n89; relations to his children, 116–21, 123, 194n5, 230n191, 231n197, 231–2n204; sexual orientation of, 63, 67, 73, 84, 87–93, 94, 115, 116, 219n41, 219n42, 219–20n43, 220n44, 222n96, 222n100, 223n102, 223n103, 223n106, 223n109; style, development of, 1, 7, 129, 194n6; visit to Venice, 1, 2, 3, 125, 134, 139. See also Aschenbach, Gustav von; coda to Death in Venice; discipline; “higher” beauty; “Greek idyll”; Kröger, Tonio; “obituary” chapter; Tadzio

  Mellers, Wilfrid, 239n76

  Mendelson, Edward, 226n150

  Mengelberg, Willem, 147, 239n71, 239n77

  Menuhin, Yalta, 231n197

  Mercier, Pascal, 200n58

  Mill, John Stuart, 18, 202n66, 217n12, 229n172, 244n121, 246n139, 246n141

  Milton, John, 136, 200n58, 235n36

  Mindernickel, Tobias, 5

  Mitchell, Donald, 233n16, 234n24, 236n38, 236n48, 237n51, 237n55, 237n56, 237n57, 238n63, 238n64, 238n65, 238n69, 239n70, 239n71, 239n72, 239n75, 239n78

  Moes, Wladyslaw, 216n215

  Morte a Venezia, 28, 129–35, 171, 238n69. See also Visconti, Luchino

  Murdoch, Iris, 200n58

  music, as highest art, 6, 34; as medium for philosophy, 19–21, 156, 169, 179–87, 245n127

  Musil, Robert, 12

  Mut-em-enet, 97–98, 100, 101, 107, 113, 114, 122, 225n130

  Nagel, Thomas, 170, 242n98, 242n99

  Nanay, Bence, 200n54, 225n144, 235n25

  narrative voices, 27, 100, 205–6n103; in Death in Venice, 27, 39, 52, 56, 59, 60, 62, 65, 102, 206n103, 215n205

  Nazism, 114, 118; Thomas Mann’s resistance to, 114, 207n114, 212n164, 215n204, 222n96, 229n177

  Nehamas, Alexander, 194n7, 210n142

  Neuhouser, Frederick, 224n1
19

  Neurath, Otto, 201n63

  Nietzsche, Friedrich, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 18, 19, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, 35, 56, 62, 74, 132, 156, 167, 171, 177, 189, 194n5, 197n35, 199n43, 208n128, 208n129, 211n150, 235n27, 242n99, 246n139, 246n141; ascetic ideal, 47, 50, 51, 60, 215n197; Birth of Tragedy, 26–29, 64, 114, 122, 198n42, 199n43, 199n45, 206n104, 206n107, 206n108, 206n109, 207n110, 207n111, 207n112, 210n141, 240n85; Genealogy of Morality, 36, 37, 121, 199n44, 215n197; Schopenhauer as Educator, 66, 67, 82, 210n140, 217n19, 217n26, 224n117; on the worth of human lives, 18, 19, 21, 25, 32, 36–37, 52, 60, 185

  Nikkels, Eveline, 240n85

  Nobel Prize for Literature, 37, 114, 229n173

  “obituary” chapter, 39–40, 41, 53, 56, 69, 135, 212n163, 215n205

  Palmer, Colin, 227n163

  panpsychism, 170, 184, 245n129. See also Fechner, Gustav Theodor

  Peacocke, Christopher, 244n124, 245n127

  pessimism, 18, 19, 21, 34–35, 37, 78, 136, 242n99. See also Schopenhauer, Arthur

  philosophy: and argument, 12, 13–14, 15–16, 23–24, 190–91; character of, 12, 13, 14, 25, 36–37, 149, 245n127; oldest qestion of, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 30, 35, 47, 64, 114, 141, 146, 170, 177, 179, 185–89, 190–91, 242n99. See also saying and showing

  Piepsam, Lobgott, 5

  Piper, Myfanwy, 103, 105, 130, 227n157, 228n167, 228n168

  Platen, August von, 75–82, 83, 87, 90, 220n53, 220n55, 221n73, 223n111; Mann’s reaction to, 75–76, 80, 82, 92, 194n5, 221n68, 227n157

  Plato, 15, 25, 30, 31–33, 50, 51, 64, 65, 69, 70, 92, 100, 112, 189, 208n129, 211n147, 216n11, 217n12, 242n101; Meno, 70; Phaedrus, 32, 45, 70, 71, 76, 80, 94, 197n34, 214n183, 218n28; Republic, 31–32, 66, 208n124; Symposium, 63, 70, 72, 76, 94 197n34

  Plutarch, 71; Dialogue on Love, 71, 76, 77, 216n11, 219n36, 220n53

  Potiphar, 97–98, 100, 102, 113

  Proust, Marcel, 13

  Rachel, death of, 92. See also Mann, Thomas, Joseph and His Brothers

  Rawls, John, 239n73, 245n130

  Reich-Ranicki, Marcel, 219n41, 223n115, 224n123, 230n192

  Reed, Philip, 226n147, 233n16

  Reed, T. J., 198n42, 199nn48–49, 205nn97–99, 205n102, 211n147, 211n151, 212n161, 212n163, 213n170, 216n11, 226n148, 233n7