264 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL 
training and his native ability gave him a critical attitude 
toward presuppositions that seems to be lacking in a great 
many social scientists. 
The relativistic viewpoint has led Simmel to conceive 
of society as the sum of the interactions between the indi- 
viduals. The group unity is for him a functional unity, not 
a substantial unity; society is a process, not a thing. This 
conception is in harmony with the modern tendency which 
places the emphasis on the functional rather than on the 
substantial and on the dynamic rather than on the static 
aspect. But Simmel has not only gone farther than most 
of his contemporaries; he has also taken more pains to de- 
fine his basic concepts and to show their validity and use- 
fulness. 
This relativistic viewpoint which sees the group unity 
as a functional unity has naturally led to a strong emphasis 
on the individual elements, which are the actual bearers of 
the processes of socialization. The individual has once 
more become of importance in social theory. He is not, as 
for many sociologists, merely a social product, or merely a 
social factor. He is at the same time social product and 
social factor, the result of socialization and the producer of 
socialization; and it is this double capacity that determines 
him as a social being. This conception yields a better ap- 
proach toward an understanding of the social actuality 
than can be obtained by viewing only one aspect and neg- 
lecting the other. The essence of social life and group unity 
is reciprocity. and that essential characteristic is ignored if 
the approach toward an understanding is based on a one- 
sided view. 
If the individual is regarded solely as the social agent, 
the influence of the social environment is ignored. If the 
individual is regarded solely as a social product, the fact 
that individuals create that social environment is ignored,