This thesis is a chronological study of Broch's
work from the early 1930's until his death in 1951. The
former date is selected as the point of departure
because, with the publication of "Der Zerfall der Werte"
in Die Schlafwandler in 1932, Broch, for the first time,
gave definitive expression to his theory of values, which
he had been gradually formulating in years of research
prior to that date. There are two main parts to this
study. Broch's theoretical writings are first examined
with a view to showing how and why the theory of "das
Irdisch-Absolute" developed and to explaining exactly
what it is. In the second part his novels are examined
with the aim of establishing the extent to which the
developing theory of "das Irdisch-Absolute" is reflected
in them.
It can be shown that the basic development in
question is a progression in Broch's thinking from reliance
on the purely formal, abstract, transcendental Absolute of
the Logos to the conviction that man, as the empirical,
earthly Absolute, must be the final criterion by and
against which all values must be judged. The main purpose
of the thesis, as explained in the introduction, is to
show how Broch, an intellectual and theoretician, was
forced by historical circumstances continually to modify
and revise his thinking on the basic question of ethics.
This revision, of which Broch was never fully aware
himself, is seen in the way he progressively abandoned a
highly abstract, theoretical and speculative conception
of ethics, which seemed to have little immediate
relevance to the problems of his own generation, in
favour of a more practical morality of direct humanitarian commitment
