Therefore, for Simmel Sociology is more than just the study of "natural laws." Simmel also emphasized the study of small groups. This differed for the classical theorists like Durkheim and Marx.
The primary contemporary interest in Simmel's work stems from the analysis of individual action within the ambit of the structural approach. An essential difference between Simmel's view of sociological analysis and other major theorists is that while theorists like Durkheim considered the aim of sociology to be the creation of logical and inclusive overarching theoretical constructs, Simmel viewed society, as it were, from the bottom up: with the focus on the way that smaller groups and individuals interact. This approach is more in line with contemporary phenomenological and existential theories.
It is in this light that a reassessment of the work of Simmel is suggested. While theories like Durkheim and Weber criticize much of Simmel's work, they also acknowledge a debt to his sophisticated and ingenious insights into societal function and reality. It is enlightening to note that Durkheim, for example, criticizes Simmel's work on the grounds that it lacks "material content" and is reductionist in that, " No connection can be discovered among the questions to which he draws the attention of sociologists; they are topics of meditation that have no relation to an integral scientific system. " (Durkheim E.) the early modernist bias in Durkheim's critique becomes clear in the reference to the lack of a "scientific system" and the predilection for meditative thinking. The desire to move way from 'master narratives' and concepts such as scientific objectivity towards a more inclusive, discursive and subjective analysis of society that was characteristic of Simmel's work, is more...
These women were called "fashionably dressed hell-raisers." They dressed up to show their personal pride as well as to be noticed by men. Although advertising was growing significantly during Simmel's time, it was nothing compared to what it is now. Simmel would be amazed to see the role that fashion now plays in society. Millions of dollars are spent today by advertisers to get the right image to market their
Sociology Georg Simmel's The Philosophy of Money centers on the subject of money and its social meaning to the individual and the society. In his discourse, Simmel discusses how money becomes the symbol of a rational society, which is highly impersonal, rational, and calculable. This argument is due to the characteristically lesser interaction between or among people interacting on strictly impersonal situations, i.e., business transactions where there is an exchange of
Therefore the commerce under analysis is not a mere relation of exchange, but is a relation in which two forces become actively involved. Since it is man who initiates the process then it results that man is free to act as he wishes and not determined in his actions. The fact that this process is initiated in times of hardship demonstrate the fact that will and freedom are not enough
Marx/Durkheim/Simmel At the time of the Industrial Revolution, philosophy had already dealt substantially with the notion of "division of labour" although the terminology was slightly different. Our modern sense of the division of labour is, of course, largely derived from nineteenth century industrial capitalism, and it was based on this paradigm that sociological thinkers like Marx, Durkheim, and Simmel would analyze the phenomenon. But we might note by way of introduction
Symbolic Interactionism The objective of this study is to contrast and compare the work of Simmel and Mead on Symbolic Interactionism. Toward this end, a review of literature in this area of inquiry will be conducted. Symbolic interactionism is a primary sociological perspective that George Herbert Mead advanced through bringing "rigorous substance to this emergent micro-level analysis." (Bloch, nd) From the view of symbolic interactionism, "society is the sum total of the
The culture industry, which is centered in cities, thus robs the individual of their freedom to participate in the culture-at-large, forcing them into the role of pure consumer. The unity of style as it manifests itself in cultural products is an expression of social power. The greatest artists thus have a mistrust of style, as the hierarchies of power have constructed it; their greatness thus lies in their inherent
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