Norms and Normativity statistical norms institutional norms social

Norms and Normativity • • statistical norms institutional norms social norms historically-linked norms (traditions) • deviancy

Normative Functions • rationality (or sanity) • control • science

The Norms of Madness • Why is madness historically and culturally specific? • Who is best qualified to determine someone’s sanity? • How does a determination of insanity change one’s status?

The Norms of Science • At what point or under what circumstances can we call a certain activity science? • What distinguishes the science of different periods, for instance, that of the Ancients from that of the Moderns? • What is a paradigm, especially in a scientific context?

Isaac Newton (1642 -1727)

Albert Einstein (1879 -1955)

Johann Wilhelm Möbius

Theme: Responsibility • Blame is difficult to determine in large-scale social problems, for instance, in education and the so-called failures of the educational system to achieve certain objectives (basic skills, English levels, job readiness, prevention of disorder or crime, cultivation of good habits, moral fortitude, work ethic, etc. ). • What are some other large-scale problems, either ongoing or historical, in which blame, guilt, or responsibility are difficult to determine?

Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921 -1990) • Swiss • The Physicists (1962)

Characters • • Fräulein Doktor Mathilde von Zahnd Marta Boll Monika Stettler Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Johann Wilhelm Möbius • Oskar Rose, Lina Rose • Richard Voss

Content 1. What institutions are described or implied in the initial directions at the start of the play? 2. What events have recently disturbed the villa where the physicists live? 3. What qualifications do the nurses have to protect themselves? 4. How does Newton describe his purpose in life? How does he justify the murder of a nurse? 5. Whom does Newton claim to be? Why does he maintain the fiction that he is Newton?

Content 6. How does the doctor react to Voss’ complaints? 7. Who visits Möbius? How does Möbius react to this visit? Why does he react this way? 8. What relation is there between Möbius and Nurse Monika? 9. How does Möbius react to her disclosures?

Stage Directions • Why would Dürrenmatt create stage directions that no one but a reader (and the actors) could perceive? • What are the Aristotelian unities? What does their mention condition in the audience? • passage: 9 -11

Class • What are the class associations around Les Cerisiers (probably an allusion to Chekhov’s play of this name)? • How have these distinctions changed or become anachronistic in the present of the play? • How is modern society structured, based on the description of the first couple of pages? • What types of patients populated the sanatorium— what is meant by elite in this context?

Genre • Despite the violence and somewhat serious themes, the play has comic elements. • Identify some of these. • What do you think tragicomedy means? • language: 14, 15, etc. • irony: 18, etc. • absurdity: 21, etc.

Technology vs. Use • Newton develops the technology/use dilemma quite well. • What is behind the idea that the Inspector wants to arrest him for “creating” the atomic bomb? • passages: 22 -23

Responsibility • What defense does Newton offer to this charge? • Is it logical or compelling? • What would it mean not to “turn on the light”?

Application: Blame • We have talked about blame and responsibility. • What excuse does the doctor make in regard to the murders? • passage: 28, cf. 34 (establishing measures)

Rationale • Möbius has reasons for his behavior. • What, at this point, do you think his rationale is for alienating his family and refusing Nurse Monika?

Attitudes towards Religion • Is Dürrenmatt critical of religion, or specifically, a certain kind of religious belief or practice? • What is his tone in connection with Herr Rose and Möbius’ wife?

King Solomon

PUD • What do you believe the Principle of Universal Discovery to be? • Is it real or simply a delusion? • What is King Solomon’s role in the play so far, and why would he be used in this way?

Möbius’s Motive • Why does Möbius kill Nurse Monika? • Again, this entails some predictions about what is really going on.

Painters • • Leon Spilliaert (1881 -1946) Giorgio De Chirico (1888 -1978) Max Ernst (1891 -1976) Paul Delvaux (1897 -1994) Rene Magritte (1898 -1967) Yves Tanguy (1900 -1955) Salvador Dalí (1904 -1989) Balthus [Balthasar Klossowski de Rola] (1908 -2001)

For Next Time • Read: The Physicists, Act Two • Images: Matisse, Léger