In 1933, watching Hitler infect Germany with his nihilistic madness, Thomas Mann saw a parallel in the defeat of Erasmus, the greatest humanist of the Renaissance, by Luther, whose dark fanaticism plunged Europe into an entire century of religious war. Mann, who would have to flee the Nazi regime and take refuge in the United States, at one point commented, “mankind has no use for rational, decent order or tolerance, no yearning for ‘happiness’ at all, but prefers recurrent tragedy and untrammelled, destructive adventure” (Heilbut, 530). The parallel with our present moment is almost too obvious to state. Which is why, for a second week, I am writing on comedy. The theme of comedy is the victory of human desire, of “happiness” in all its forms. It forms a counter-voice, rational, decent, tolerant, to the addiction to tragedy and destruction that we hear all around us these days, amplified by the Internet. As a few shrewd journalists have pointed out, the mood of hysterical panic combined with pessimistic despair is being deliberately cultivated by the theatrical extremism of Trump and his followers, who are attempting by their antics to demoralize people so thoroughly that they will feel too paralyzed to resist the next attempt at a takeover.
I was fortunate as an undergraduate in the 1960s to read Thomas Mann's fiction with the philosopher Thelma Z. Lavine, author of "From Socrates to Sartre," which was made into a PBS series. If I were an undergraduate today, I would hope to have a teacher who could write this newsletter issue.
I was fortunate as an undergraduate in the 1960s to read Thomas Mann's fiction with the philosopher Thelma Z. Lavine, author of "From Socrates to Sartre," which was made into a PBS series. If I were an undergraduate today, I would hope to have a teacher who could write this newsletter issue.
Tom, what a lovely compliment! Thank you for being such a faithful reader of the newsletter--usually on the same day, no less! Best, Michael