Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Georg Simmel Academic

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: Germany
  • Born: Mar 1, 1858
  • Died: Sep 28, 1918

Georg Simmel was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic.

Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach laid the foundations for sociological antipositivism, asking 'What is society?' in a direct allusion to Kant's question 'What is nature?', presenting pioneering analyses of social individuality and fragmentation. For Simmel, culture referred to "the cultivation of individuals through the agency of external forms which have been objectified in the course of history". Simmel discussed social and cultural phenomena in terms of "forms" and "contents" with a transient relationship; form becoming content, and vice versa, dependent on the context. In this sense he was a forerunner to structuralist styles of reasoning in the social sciences. With his work on the metropolis, Simmel was a precursor of urban sociology, symbolic interactionism and social network analysis.

An acquaintance of Max Weber, Simmel wrote on the topic of personal character in a manner reminiscent of the sociological 'ideal type'. He broadly rejected academic standards, however, philosophically covering topics such as emotion and romantic love.

Every relationship between two individuals or two groups will be characterized by the ratio of secrecy that is involved in it. relationship

For, to be a stranger is naturally a very positive relation it is a specific form of interaction. positive

Discretion is nothing other than the sense of justice with respect to the sphere of the intimate contents of life. respect