“THE ECONOMICS OF WAR AND THE DIALECTICS OF VIRTUE IN BERTOLT BRECHT’S MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN: THE PROBLEM OF STRUCTURAL PARADOX IN BRECHTIAN DRAMA”

Abstract

This article examines Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children through the lens of the structural relationship between dramatic action and songs as interconnected forms of philosophical argumentation. The relevance of the study is determined by the renewed significance of war as a subject of humanitarian and socio-cultural reflection in the contemporary world. Particular attention is devoted to the mechanisms through which military conflict transforms economic relations, moral values, and individual behaviour. The study proposes an interpretation of Brecht’s drama as a model of the economic anthropology of war, in which the traditional understanding of virtue undergoes a dialectical reconsideration. It argues that songs function not merely as instruments of theatrical alienation but also as analytical devices that expose contradictions between ethical principles and the socio-economic conditions of their realization. The findings demonstrate that the structural paradox of Brechtian drama emerges from the conflict between the intrinsic value of human virtues and the destructive mechanisms of a war-driven economy. The article concludes that Brecht’s theatrical model retains its relevance for understanding the relationship between economic interests, moral responsibility, and the reproduction of organized violence.