Frontiers of Discourse Studies
FDS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp. 63-73.
Print ISSN: 3106-809X; Online ISSN: 3106-8103
Journal homepage: https://www.fdsjournal.com
DOI：Https://doi.org/10.64058/fds260105rrtqn
Reframing Rationality: The “Telescope” and the Question into the Night in Brecht’s Life of Galileo
Gong Mengqing, Li Wanghua
Abstract: In Bertolt Brecht’s Life of Galileo, the telescope serves as a potent metaphor for instrumental rationality—a logic of measurement and mastery of the cosmos. However, Brecht disrupts the triumphant narrative of scientific progress. The once-prophetic Galileo, physically blind at the end of the play, poses a paradoxical question: “How is the night?” This article argues that Galileo’s inquiry, who has lost his sight, constitutes a profound epistemological shift—a movement from the “radiant” evidence of the telescope to the “introspective” uncertainty of ethical responsibility. Drawing upon Max Weber and Horkheimer’s distinction between “instrumental rationality” and “value rationality”, this article focuses on the inherent contradictions within the play’s various structures and phenomena, represented by the telescope, and the “clear” night in blind eyes, and argues that Rationality, as an ambiguously defined by Galileo, is clarified and reconstituted through Galileo’s dynamic practice and reflection amidst the complex interplay between means and ends. Specifically, we contend that rationality is not a static quality inherent in Galileo, but rather an evolving performance that he continuously revises and ultimately confronts in its internal insufficiency. That is, rationality emerges not as pre-ordained dogma, but as a dynamic commitment to ethical ends.
Keywords: Bertolt Brecht; Life of Galileo; Instrumental rationality; Value rationality
Author Biography: Gong Mengqing, PhD candidate at Faculty of English Language and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Her research interests include scale studies and Ecocriticism. E-mail: mqelisa@163.com. Li Wanghua (corresponding author), Associate Professor at Guangzhou College of Commerce. His research interests include Techno-Humanities. E-mail: thunderlwh@163.com
题目：对理性的再思考：布莱希特《伽利略传》中的“望远镜”与黑夜之问
摘要：在布莱希特的《伽利略传》中，望远镜隐喻了工具理性，表现为一种测量与掌握宇宙的科学逻辑。然而，布莱希特改编了最初版本关于科学进步的胜利叙事。在剧本尾声，伽利略双目失明，却提出了一个矛盾的问题：夜色如何？论文认为，失明的伽利略所发出的这一追问，构成了一次关于“理性”的认识论转向：从望远镜展现测量的“明晰”，到伦理责任中内省式的“不确定”。借助马克斯·韦伯（Max Weber）与马克斯·霍克海默（Max Horkheimer）对“工具理性”和“价值理性”的区分，论文指出，伽利略在剧作中所反复诉诸的理性，在内涵上是模糊的。而其模糊性，正源于手段与目的之间的复杂纠葛；并在科学与社会实践的碰撞中，逐渐被反思，澄清与重构。理性并非伽利略所固有的静态品质，而是在其不断修正和反思目的与手段之间的偏移，并最终直面其内在不足的过程性实践。换言之，理性不是预设的教条，而是对伦理目的的动态承诺。
关键词：布莱希特;《伽利略传》;工具理性;价值理性
作者简介：龚梦情，博士研究生，广东外语外贸大学英语语言文化学院，研究方向：尺度研究，生态批评。电邮：mqelisa@163.com。李望华（通讯作者），副教授，广州商学院，研究方向：数字人文。电邮：thunderlwh@163.com
Received: 24 Jan 2026 / Revised: 03 Jun 2026 / Accepted: 09 Jun 2026 / Published online: 15 Jun 2026 / Print published: 30 Jun 2026
