The Austrian Mind: An Intellectual and Social History, 1848-1938 [Paperback]

William M. Johnston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 1983

'The Austrian Mind' is the first book in English or in German to analyze both in depth and in breadth the intellectual history of the Hapsburg Monarchy between 1848 and 1938. Based upon an impressive command of primary and secondary published sources, Johnston's book is a tour de force. In 400 pages of text the author evaluates the contributions of Austro-Hungarian intellectuals to economic, legal, and social theory, to the arts, to philosophy, to literature and criticism, and to medicine.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The old Austria, in all its diversity and unity, in its characteristic ambiguity, is impressively demonstrated." -- Journal of European Studies

About the Author

William M. Johnston is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Massachusettes, Amherst.

Product Details

• Paperback: 530 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (March 23, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520049551
• ISBN-13: 978-0520049550
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,153 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > History > Europe > Austria

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive research, but uneven discussion, April 4, 2007

By 

A Reader (San Francisco, California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Austrian Mind: An Intellectual and Social History, 1848-1938 (Paperback)

Anyone with a serious interest in the late Habsburg Empire, Austria-Hungary, or Viennese culture should probably read this erudite, encyclopedic study. Johnston deserves praise for taking on a challenging subject. His extensive research and learning are obvious in the bibliography, notes, and the many names rescued from oblivion (many probably discussed here in English for the first time). Parts of this book are outstanding. That being said, I do not share the enthusiasm of other reviewers. In his search for overarching cultural forms or attitudes (such as "therapeutic nihilism"), Johnston makes too many sweeping generalizations, reducing individuals and their actions to sociological categories or cultural stereotypes. The people he describes often seem like caricatures. Not everyone in Vienna was neurotic, death-obsessed, or a dandy on the Ringstrasse. At one point he makes the far-fetched claim that the Hungarian language, by its very structure, causes Hungarians to become dreamers, disinclined to scrutinize reality. Johnston pigeonholes individuals by their ethnicity, religion, or nationality. He emphasizes conflicts among the different peoples and groups in the empire, but says little about the cultural cross-fertilization that also took place. He does recognize that the multilingual environment inspired reflection on the problems of language.

This is essentially a history of intellectual movements (who taught or influenced whom), not a social or cultural history, as the title might suggest. It does not say much about the politics of the era or the broader society (the section about Hungary is an exception). Johnston is at his best and most informative in discussing economists, legal theorists, and philosophers. The sections about philosophy and social theories are perhaps the most interesting, showing a range of thinkers, some of whom were very prescient concerning the future of Austria and Europe, and whose theories ranged from the utopian to the pessimistic to the sinister.

Johnston falters with literature and the arts. He treats Johann Strauss Jr. and his music in a rather dismissive way, seeming to overlook the fact that Strauss was a very good composer whose works quickly became popular all over the Western world and are still enjoyed more than a hundred years later. (For a better discussion of operetta as a cultural form, see Peter Hanak's book on Budapest and Vienna, "The Garden and the Workshop"). An artist as important as Oskar Kokoschka is quickly passed over in a few short paragraphs, conveying no sense at all of how Kokoschka's work developed and changed during his long productive lifetime. Other artists and works (Kolo Moser and the Wiener Werkstatte design studio, the operatic collaborations of Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss, Ernst Krenek) are not mentioned at all. This is too bad, because the art and music of this period are perhaps its most lasting legacy. By contrast, the stature of psychoanalysis has declined since the 1960s, when this book was written, and the presentation of Freud in particular seems dated.

Some details: Johnston does not translate any of the many German titles he cites, a disadvantage for those who don't read German. He often refers to the "Herrenhaus," the Upper House of Parliament, without explaining the term. He mentions Marcionism many times, but defines it only after more than two hundred pages. Ditto for Herbartianism. Readers should have some background knowledge before starting, and be prepared to question some of the author's analysis and conclusions.

This book is packed with detailed information, and we learn a great deal from it, but somehow the full color and complexity of life have gone missing. Its strength is in the details, not the synthesis. We do not come closer to understanding the forces behind the unique cultural flowering of Central Europe, and of fin-de-siecle Vienna in particular. The prodigious creativity of that place and time remain as mysterious as before.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Encyclopedic in scope, March 27, 2006

By 

Jim Farmelant (Medford, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Austrian Mind: An Intellectual and Social History, 1848-1938 (Paperback)

Johnston's book may not have everything that you ever wanted to know about the intellectual and cultural life of Austria-Hungary under the Hapsburgs, but if ever a single volume came close to having everything, then this is it. It has discussions of not only the "usual suspects" like Mach, Freud, Wittgenstein, but it also provides coverage of important figures in economics (i.e. Carl Menger, Schumpeter, Hayek), jurisprudence (i.e. Hans Kelsen, Karl Renner, Anton Menger), men of letters (i.e. Musil), philosophers (i.e. Schlick, Neurath, Lukacs, Buber, Ebner), music (i.e. Mahler, Schonberg), and many, many other important people. Johnston's book also covers other less well known but important figures too. For example, he covers Hans Gross, a pioneer in the development of scientific police detection.

Anyone who has already read such books as Allan Janik and Stephen Toulmins' *Wittgenstein's Vienna*, Malachi Hacohen's *Karl Popper: The Formative Years 1902-1945* or even, Edmonds & Eidinows'*Wittgenstein's Poker*, will appreciate this fascinating and well written book.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MAGIC !!, April 5, 2003

By 

SecondLaw of Thermodynamics (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Austrian Mind: An Intellectual and Social History, 1848-1938 (Paperback)

This book is worth every cent, an amazingly well written and concise history of the culture, from all angles. I can't recommend it highly enough.