Francis Golffing
THE DISCIPLINE AND PRESUMPTION
OF MAX BENSE
Surfaces are colder than depths,
but they support structures.
-MAX BENsE
The wntmgs of Max Bensel-physicist, mathematician,
logician, sociologist, critic of literature-are enjoying, and have en–
joyed for some time past, a remarkable vogue in Western Europe.
And for good reasons. In this age of specialization, Bense spells for
a large and various audience the resurgence of an old dream, and
the figure of a new possibility:
l'uomo universale
wedding science
with scholarship, artistry with
praxis;
empowering mind by refusing
to be unmindful of power; and all this in terms of a discipline which,
by encompassing all, would be ultimate. A noble presumption, to
which earlier models-Leibniz and, of course, Leonardo-seem to
lend color, if not active encouragement; and though Mr. Bense lacks
the originality of either, he is not unworthy, on several counts, of their
company. His extraordinary factual knowledge is utterly solid to the
extent that I can test it, and such portions of it as are outside my
scope have been pronounced sound by severe judges. There is vision
here, both wide and deep, extending in either direction; a discourse
admirable in its clarity, as firm in structure as it
is
subtle in texture;
and, last but not least, an intellectual program so ambitious, impa–
tient of compromise yet, on the face of it, so realistic that it would
seem to make all rival programs fade from the page.
Yet seldom has thought of such strength been built on such
weakness. The scheme proves weakest where it captivates most,
in
its
'realism.' For like most doctrinaires, Mr. Bense refuses to pay heed
to economic facts; his eye for reality
is
keen but so far off that the
resulting perspective is, at best, that of the eagle. A study of what
the program asserts soon makes this apparent.
1 Max Hense,
Technische Existen;:;
(1949),
Literaturmetaphysik
(1950),
Plakatwelt
(1952); all published by Deutsche Veriagsanstalt, Stuttgart.
