Description
Book SynopsisAs the founder of the humanist version of sociology, Georg Simmel sent powerful messages about the discipline. His key ideas - that reality is socially constructed, changes over time and rarely is as it appears - are critically re-examined with an eye toward drawing lessons for contemporary scholars and activists. With essential insights for those working in any field within the social sciences.
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Message of Interpretation Humanities versus Natural Sciences The Operation Called Verstehen The Controversy about Pragmatism Simmel versus conventional Philosophy The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy Simmel’s Critique of Subjectivist Pragmatism Tension between Culture and the Individual 2. The Message of Change: Society Evolves Over Time Evolution and Darwin’s “Theory of Descendency” Change as Differentiation and Individualization Competition promotes Evolution Alternative Theories of Evolution 3. The Message of Interaction: How Reality is Constructed Sociology as the Study of Interaction Society Emerges in Interaction Religion as Interaction Strangeness as Form of Interaction Encounters between Alien Populations The Stranger as Innovator 4. The Message of Alienation: Money and Politics Money as a Paradigm of Cultural Processes Evaluation and Alienation Construction of Value in Interaction Money as a Means of Exchange Socialism as Result of a Forming Process Socialism on Happiness Machine - Factory – Government 5. The Main Thrust of the Messages contra Marx and Weber Simmel’s Main Thrust against Marx Simmel’s main Thrust against Weber 6. Background of the Messages: Intellectual Influences The Platonic Socrates Plato’s Eternal Ideas Spinoza Kant Dilthey Summary: Statements about Simmel’s Method Appendix 1: Biography of Georg Simmel Appendix 2: Simmel’s Autobiographical Fragment References Index
