The social Theory of Georg Simmel

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1024612627

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-166627

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Spykman, Nicholas J. http://d-nb.info/gnd/124229867

Title:: The social Theory of Georg Simmel

Place of publication:: Chicago

Publisher:: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Year of publication:: 1925

Scope:: XXIX, 297 S

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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104 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL appears on the one hand as an impersonal command to which the individual simply has to yield, while on the other hand no external power, but only his subjective impulse or instinct, enforces it. The norms originally derived from the will of all are now conceived as impersonal factual norms, and the individual reproduces within his own conscious- ness the external relations between himself and his group. Subordination to the moral imperative is therefore a pe- culiar form of interrelation between the individual and his group. The subordination to an impersonal principle has also a sociological aspect if it leads to specific and character- istic relationships between the subordinate individuals. In this case also the subordination to an ideal principle has usually been preceded by a subordination to an actual power. Individuals and classes often exert their authority in the name of an ideal principle to which they are them- selves subordinated. The latter may appear to be logically prior to the personal authority, but in the historical devel- opment the personal rule usually precedes the rule of an ob- jective principle. The power and rule of the personal supe- rior grows gradually into an objective power through ratioc- ination and through the extension and depersonalization of the relationship. The result is a situation in which the superior exerts his authority, not in his own right, but as the personal representative of that ideal power. This de- velopment can be easily traced in the history of the patria potestas among the Aryan peoples. The power of the father was originally unlimited and entirely subjective. His momentary desires and his personal advantage might be the sole basis for his decisions and regulations. But this arbitrary power gradually became limited by a feeling of responsibility. The unity of the family group embodied in the family spirit grew into an ideal power, and the lord of

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