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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164 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL independent of the individuals who compose it. The group can remain identical while the members change. We still speak of the same state, the same army, the same associa- tion, when not a single original member survives. The per- sistence of the group is therefore by no means identical with the persistence of its members. It is a different phe- nomenon. The members may perish while the group re- mains, and the group may dissolve while the individuals remain. At first sight it would seem as if there were a great sim- ilarity between the phenomenon of group persistence and that of group existence. But the process of socialization as it takes place in the temporal order is not fully identical with the process that takes place in the spatial order. The group exists at a certain time because the mental bond be- tween the individuals overcomes their separation in space. It is the process of interaction between them that creates and maintains the unity of the group. But in the case of individuals separated from one another in time, the group unity cannot be maintained in the same manner. In that case a complete reciprocity is impossible. The earlier mem- bers may indirectly influence the later members, but the later members cannot influence the earlier ones. Hence the persistence of the social unity in spite of shifting member- ship presents a peculiar problem which is not solved by ex- plaining how the group has come into existence at a cer- tain moment. Among the different factors which contribute toward this persistence of the group may be mentioned the follow- ing: the fact that the change in membership occurs only gradually; the permanence of the locality; the objectiva- tion of the group unity in symbols; its protection by means of law, honor, and morality; and the formation of special organs. The function of each of these factors and its con-

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