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