186 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL 
A unique and exceptional case of sociological deter- 
mination through the intersection of social circles is that 
of the Catholic clergy. No social group or class is excluded 
from providing priests and monks. The Catholic clergy is 
a social circle which in theory intersects all existing circles 
in so far as they are primary groups. But its peculiar char- 
acteristic is the fact that it lifts the individual fully and 
completely out of his former circles. With his entrance into 
this circle the individual loses all connections with his 
former associations and renounces his former sociological 
identity, including his name. The intersection does not 
exist for the individual priest, but only for the class as a 
whole. As a whole it is a group to which former members 
of all classes and circles belong. As a whole it is sociologi- 
cally determined by the fact that it has identical relations 
to all other classes. But the individual priest does not pos- 
sess an individuality in the general sense of the term. Be- 
rause he is entirely priest, he must be entirely priest. 
The most radical means by which the individual priest 
is kept out of the intersection of social circles is celibacy. 
Marriage leads to such a complete and binding sociological 
fixation that a married individual can often not fully real- 
ize his logical position in his other social circles. 
For that reason certain associations have refused mem- 
bership to married men. The journeymen guilds of the 
Middle Ages were often closed to married individuals 
who were otherwise fully eligible. The reason for this was 
that their group unity could be preserved only by a com- 
plete equality and homogeneity and by a free circulation 
of members throughout the whole area over which the 
group extended. The acceptance of married men would 
have created inequality and impeded the libertv of action 
of a part of its members. 
But apart from the actual content of the associations,