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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122 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL sults, makes it also extremely valuable to the wider social circle to which the competitors belong. Conflicts which re- sult from subjective pugnacity, or which are fought for something that one of the opponents possesses, are of no benefit to the group as a whole. But if a competitive strug- gle is fought without the intermixture of other conflict ele- ments and for something the group has to give, the results will be most beneficial. For the group as a whole, the com- petition will then be a way to stimulate the creation of ob- jective values by means of subjective motives. For the parties concerned, the competition forces an increased pro- duction of objective values as a means to subjective satis- factions. This is the situation in the modern business world, where the producers fight their competitive strug- gles by the production of better and cheaper goods. But apart from these indirect advantages for the larger circle, competition has immediate sociological results of no less importance. As the objects for which the competi- tion exists are in the hands of the group and can be ob- tained only by incurring its favor, the contesting parties are forced to establish intimate relationships with the group and to anticipate its wishes and desires. Competi- tion is therefore a socializing force. It is a synthetic force weaving a whole network of threads through the social structure, and adds to the strength of its texture. It seems that since the breaking up of the small group and the re- sulting disappearance of solidarity, individuals act in the interest of other individuals only if they are forced or stim- ulated to it by competition. Competition produces results which could otherwise be brought about only through love and altruism. In its modern form it is not merely a strug- gle of all against all, but also a struggle of all for all. This latter formal synthetic aspect is often overlooked by the

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