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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228 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL That money takes this extreme position in the scale of functional relationships between possessor and posses- sions is also manifest in another direction. The sphere of objects which I fill with my personality because I express my will in and through them is limited not only by the in- herent characteristics of the objects, but also by the capac- ity for expansion of my ego. The sphere of objects can be- come so great that I cannot realize my potential dominion over them. In this respect also money takes a special place. It requires less effort in its administration, enjoyment, and dominion than any other object, and the quantity of do- minion and possession that can be actualized is much great- er than with other forms of property. In the former case the inherent characteristics of the objects themselves set the limits to the dominion and the freedom of the ego; here it is the capacity for expansion which limits the dominion; but in both cases money is the form of possession which allows the greatest self-expression and the maximum individual liberty.! Money and Social Differentiation The increasing differentiation already referred to be- tween the subjective and the objective aspects and the per- sonal and factual sides of life is also manifest in the his- torical development of property. Possession is an exten- sion of the ego, a phenomenon of mental life. Its signifi- cance consists in the conscious realization of the existing relationship between subject and object. What is done with the object is a function of the subject, is a projection of the will or the feeling or the thought of the subject into the object. But this differentiation is a historical appear- ance. Originally practical possession, like theoretical pos- session, was a state of indifference, a situation in which the 1 Phil. des Geldes, pp. 322-56.

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