George simmel (1)

sociologist

1. George Simmel (1858-1918) Presented By: Faiza Parveen M.phil 1 st , Sociology

2. Introduction Born in Berlin on March 1, 1858 Germany. Received his PHD from the university of Berlin German Sociologist, Author, and philosopher. Best known as a micro sociologist Close acquaintance of Max Weber (1864-1920). Despite being a popular lecturer and being supported by Weber, he was consider an outsider academically. Only in 1914 did Simmel obtain a regular academic appointment, and this appointment was in Strasbourg, far from Berlin Died on September 28, 1918 .

3. Simmel work’s His view of society His view of sociology His assertion that individual in modern society was in trouble.- metaphysical principles of life Contribute greatly to the development of small group research (poverty, the prostitute, the miser and the spendthrift, and the stranger. ) Focused intently on social interaction and social geometry, Philosophy of Money , The Metropolis and Mental Life [1903/1971])

4. A dialectical approaches multi causal and multidirectional, integrates fact and value, rejects the idea that there are hard-and-fast dividing lines between social phenomena, focuses on social relations (B. Turner, 1986), looks not only at the present but also at the past and the future, and is deeply concerned with both conflicts and contradictions. Simmel’s sociology was always concerned with relationships especially interaction association. “In Simmel’s dialectic, man is always in danger of being slain by those objects of his own creation which have lost their organic human coefficient Dialectical Thinking

5. Objective Vs Subjective Culture refers to those things that people produce (art, science, philosophy, and so on). refers to the capacity of the actor to produce, absorb, and control the elements of objective culture. Objective culture Subjective culture

6. More-Life and More-Than-Life for Simmel separation b/w people and product is inherent in the nature of human life. In philosophical terms, there is an inherent and inevitable contradiction between “more-life” and “more-than-life”

7. Urbanism VS Urbanization Urbanism (life within the city) • A phenomenon of people human interaction in moving from rural areas metropolitan areas. towards urban cities. • It studies the significance of cities in role of migration and the reasons development of society. acting behind it. Urbanization (development of city) refers to the city formation or building process. It studies the way social activities locate themselves in space according to interdependence process of societal development and change

8. Characteristic Features Individuality Autonomy Indifferent Technological pessimism Intensification of nervous stimulation Punctuality, calculability and exactness

9. The Metropolis and Mental Life(1903 ) The urban dwellers mental life is predominantly intellectualistic in character. People respond to situations in a rational  rather than an emotional manner. A common stance of urban dweller is thus the blasé outlook. The world of the blasé person is flat grey and homogenous. Analysis of contrast between urban and rural ways of life  .Differences between the traditional villages ,small town and modern city.

10. Cont. Simmel look at the social psychological features of modern urban culture. He notes that in cities, many anonymous people come into contact with one another, yet are removed from the emotional ties and social bounds they had in smaller communities. Urban dwellers' tend to be Calculative: daily life is filled with “ weighting, calculating , enumerating reducing qualitative values to quantitative.

11. Blasé attitude Simmel describe bales attitude as an attitude of absolute boredom and lack of concern. A money economy also induces a blasé attitude, “all things as being of an equally dull and grey hue, as not worth getting excited about” . Results of the reduction of the concrete values of life to the mediating values of money

12. Table 1 Synopsis of Simmel’s Lecture Titled “The Metropolis and Mental Life” Unit of comparison Urban way of life Traditional way of life Main metaphor Long chains Small circles Dominant economic system Goods production and money economy Detailed division of labor Subsistence production and barter economy Little division of labor Core economic problem Fight for man (instill new needs) Fight with nature (satisfy elementary needs) Consumer’s relation to the product Orientation to exchange value Blasé attitude toward things Consumption of final products Orientation to utility value Sensitivity to differences Consumer’s input Consumer’s relation to the manufacturer Dependence on many people the consumer do not know Positive: predictability Negative: inexorability Dependence on a few people the consumer knows Positive: latitude for judgment Negative: arbitrariness General etiquette Brevity and rarity of meetings Slight aversion Length and frequency of encounters Solidarity Benefit to the individual Individual freedom Collective support Danger to the individual Social isolation Social control Leveling of people Adaptation to formal procedures (e.g., the obligation to be punctual) Adaptation to group norms Differentiation of people Stylization of individuality in public Knowledge of individualities in the group Rhythm of life Tempo Contrasts Incessant change Leisureliness Evenness Constancy Personality patterns Intellectuality Tolerance Flexibility of roles played Emotionality Philistinism Stability of character Life horizon The near is far; the far is near Cosmopolitanism The near is near; the far is far Provincialism

13. We tend to focus on money in terms of its functions: in exchange (medium of exchange), as an asset (store of value), and being useful for accounting purposes (unit of account). The Philosophy of Money

14. Simmel focuses on money and the monetary system as an integral part of the market economy. Money is a social institution. Money is related to justice, liberty, and man as a social creature. The monetary system is not the conscious creation of a political entity, but rather is the unintended product of social evolution. Simmel Focus

15. Simmel treated money as a specific phenomenon linked with a variety of other components of life, including “exchange, ownership, greed, extravagance, cynicism, individual freedom, the style of life, culture, the value of the personality, etc.” Much in common with the work of Karl Marx. Like Marx, Simmel focused on capitalism and the problems created by a money economy. But having a difference because Marx saw economic problems as time-bound, the product of capitalist society, he believed that eventually they could be solved. While Simmel saw the basic problems as inherent in human life and held out no hope for future improvement. Cont…

16. Money and Value According to Simmel, people create value by making objects, separating themselves from those objects, and then seeking to overcome the “distance, obstacles, difficulties”. Money provides the means by which these entities acquire a life of their own that is external to, and coercive of, the actor. Promotes rational calculation in human affairs, furthering rationalization characteristics of modern societies.

17. Money and Freedom 19 Money is also linked directly to justice and freedom. “Exchange is … a really wonderful means for combining justice with changes in ownership.” Money is a social institution and is meaningless if restricted to the individual. Money expands liberty. Simmel does not argue that economic freedom is sufficient to guarantee political freedom. Like Friedman, he argues that it is a necessary, but not sufficient condition.

18. Threats to a Monetary Market Economy Valuation is a social problem and operates through money. Distortions affect valuation, hence justice. Wages paid in money expose the worker to “uncertainty and irregularity” stemming from fluctuations in the purchasing power of money. Simmel fears inflation and inflation volatility. Socialism may be a natural point of evolution of the social organization. Rejects Hume’s notion of long-run neutrality because of widely-recognized short-run neutrality. 20

19. Criticisms Simmel does not suggest a way out of the tragedy of culture, because he considers alienation to be inherent to the human condition. (by Marxists)