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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136 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL The Large and the Small Group For groups larger than triadic groups no correlation between specific formations and numerically definable mag- nitudes can be formulated. But a very clear distinction can still be drawn between the forms of small groups and the forms of large groups. The quantitative determination does not cease, although it can no longer be expressed in numerical terms. The correlation between the size of the group and the form is apparent in the gathering that meets for a social function. A party for thirty guests requires certain stand- ards of food, drink, dress, and behavior which do not exist for a party of two or three. In the greater social circle the more intimate contacts between individuals disappear, and this disadvantage has to be compensated for by other means. For that reason there is a close relation between the size of the social gathering and the amount of luxury necessary to make it a success. With the increase in size there will also be an increase of standardized polite behavior over spontaneous participation. In their purely sociologi- cal aspect, small groups are characterized by the fact that they require a larger participation on the part of the indi- vidual members, that they absorb a greater part of their personality, and that they are more clearly and sharply separated from one another. The larger groups show in these respects just the opposite sociological characteristics. The forms which are characteristic of large groups re- sult from the fact that they are forced to build special structures to take over the function which the immediate reciprocity between elements fulfils in small circles. The social unity can no longer be produced and preserved by the immediate relationships between individuals, and the large group must therefore build special organs in which L This point is more fully developed in Book II, chapter vii.

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