Georg Simmel on Individuality and Social Forms

by Simmel, Georg

• ISBN13: 9780226757766
• ISBN10: 0226757765
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1971-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

"Of those who created the intellectual capital used to launch the enterprise of professional sociology, Georg Simmel was perhaps the most original and fecund. In search of a subject matter for sociology that would distinguish it from all other social sciences and humanistic disciplines, he charted a new field for discovery and proceeded to explore a world of novel topics in works that have guided and anticipated the thinking of generations of sociologists. Such distinctive concepts of contemporary sociology as social distance, marginality, urbanism as a way of life, role-playing, social behavior as exchange, conflict as an integrating process, dyadic encounter, circular interaction, reference groups as perspectives, and sociological ambivalence embody ideas which Simmel adumbrated more than six decades ago."--Donald N. Levine Half of the material included in this edition of Simmel's writings represents new translations. This includes Simmel's important, lengthy, and previously untranslated "Group Expansion and Development of Individuality," as well as three selections from his most neglected work, Philosophy of Money; in addition, the introduction to Probleme der Geschichtsphilosophie, chapter one of the Lebensanschauung, and three essays are translated for the first time.

Author Biography

Elizabeth A. Kaye specializes in communications as part of her coaching and consulting practice. She has edited Requirements for Certification since the 2000-01 edition.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	ix
Donald N. Levine
I. PHILOSOPHY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES	1	(40)
How Is History Possible?	3	(3)
How Is Society Possible?	6	(17)
The Problem of Sociology	23	(13)
The Categories of Human Experience	36	(5)
II. FORMS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION	41	(100)
Exchange	43	(27)
Conflict	70	(26)
Domination	96	(25)
Prostitution	121	(6)
Sociability	127	(14)
III. SOCIAL TYPES	141	(74)
The Stranger	143	(7)
The Poor	150	(29)
The Miser and the Spendthrift	179	(8)
The Adventurer	187	(12)
The Nobility	199	(16)
IV. FORMS OF INDIVIDUALITY	215	(34)
Freedom and the Individual	217	(10)
Subjective Culture	227	(8)
Eros, Platonic and Modern	235	(14)
V. INDIVIDUALITY AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE	249	(100)
Group Expansion and the Development of Individuality	251	(43)
Fashion	294	(30)
The Metropolis and Mental Life	324	(16)
Subordination and Personal Fulfillment	340	(9)
VI. FORMS VERSUS LIFE PROCESS: THE DIALECTICS OF CHANGE	349	(46)
Social Forms and Inner Needs	351	(2)
The Transcendent Character of Life	353	(22)
The Conflict in Modern Culture	375	(20)
Bibliographical Note	395