The Social Theory of Georg Simmel
Contemporary sociology increasingly seems to be adopting a perspective similar to that on which Georg Simmel's analysis and interpretations rested. To a significant degree, therefore, sociologists continue to turn to Simmel for a basic understanding of the forms and processes of social life. Nicholas Spykman's The Social Theory of Georg Simmel, originally published in 1925, was the first comprehensive account of Simmel's ideas. It remains a most valuable summary of the major elements of his thought.

Spykman wrote this study for a specific purpose: to indicate Simmel's conception of the relations between different fields of theoretic inquiry into socio-historical actuality; to make Simmel's contributions to the methodology of the social sciences understood; and to illustrate Simmel's conception of sociology as a science. He shows that Simmel was primarily a social philosopher interested in a functional understanding of socio-historical realities, art and economic values, morals and aesthetics, religion, and the function of money. Spykman identifies three major phases in the development of Simmel's thought: the first is primarily occupied with methodology and the presuppositions of the social sciences; during the second he wrote several essays containing philosophic interpretations of modern civilization; and the third culminated in his metaphysics of culture.

The Social Theory of Georg Simmel, graced with a new introduction by David Frisby, one of the foremost contemporary Simmel experts, is an outstandingly organized, coherent presentation of the complex and subtle ideas of one of the intellectual giants of modern sociology.

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The Social Theory of Georg Simmel
Contemporary sociology increasingly seems to be adopting a perspective similar to that on which Georg Simmel's analysis and interpretations rested. To a significant degree, therefore, sociologists continue to turn to Simmel for a basic understanding of the forms and processes of social life. Nicholas Spykman's The Social Theory of Georg Simmel, originally published in 1925, was the first comprehensive account of Simmel's ideas. It remains a most valuable summary of the major elements of his thought.

Spykman wrote this study for a specific purpose: to indicate Simmel's conception of the relations between different fields of theoretic inquiry into socio-historical actuality; to make Simmel's contributions to the methodology of the social sciences understood; and to illustrate Simmel's conception of sociology as a science. He shows that Simmel was primarily a social philosopher interested in a functional understanding of socio-historical realities, art and economic values, morals and aesthetics, religion, and the function of money. Spykman identifies three major phases in the development of Simmel's thought: the first is primarily occupied with methodology and the presuppositions of the social sciences; during the second he wrote several essays containing philosophic interpretations of modern civilization; and the third culminated in his metaphysics of culture.

The Social Theory of Georg Simmel, graced with a new introduction by David Frisby, one of the foremost contemporary Simmel experts, is an outstandingly organized, coherent presentation of the complex and subtle ideas of one of the intellectual giants of modern sociology.

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The Social Theory of Georg Simmel

The Social Theory of Georg Simmel

by Nicholas J. Spykman
The Social Theory of Georg Simmel

The Social Theory of Georg Simmel

by Nicholas J. Spykman

Paperback(New Introduction by David Frisby)

$61.99 
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Overview

Contemporary sociology increasingly seems to be adopting a perspective similar to that on which Georg Simmel's analysis and interpretations rested. To a significant degree, therefore, sociologists continue to turn to Simmel for a basic understanding of the forms and processes of social life. Nicholas Spykman's The Social Theory of Georg Simmel, originally published in 1925, was the first comprehensive account of Simmel's ideas. It remains a most valuable summary of the major elements of his thought.

Spykman wrote this study for a specific purpose: to indicate Simmel's conception of the relations between different fields of theoretic inquiry into socio-historical actuality; to make Simmel's contributions to the methodology of the social sciences understood; and to illustrate Simmel's conception of sociology as a science. He shows that Simmel was primarily a social philosopher interested in a functional understanding of socio-historical realities, art and economic values, morals and aesthetics, religion, and the function of money. Spykman identifies three major phases in the development of Simmel's thought: the first is primarily occupied with methodology and the presuppositions of the social sciences; during the second he wrote several essays containing philosophic interpretations of modern civilization; and the third culminated in his metaphysics of culture.

The Social Theory of Georg Simmel, graced with a new introduction by David Frisby, one of the foremost contemporary Simmel experts, is an outstandingly organized, coherent presentation of the complex and subtle ideas of one of the intellectual giants of modern sociology.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780765805713
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Publication date: 04/30/2004
Edition description: New Introduction by David Frisby
Pages: 348
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Nicholas J. Spykman was Sterling Professor of International Relations at Yale University in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He also authored The Geography of the Peace and The Social Theory of Georg Simmel, available from Transaction.

David Frisby is chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Glasgow. He is the editor, with M. Featherstone, of Simmel on Culture: Selected Writings.

Table of Contents

Book I: Social Philosophy; Introduction; I: The Concept of Society; II: Sociology; III: Sociology as Distinct From the Social Sciences and Social Psychology; IV: Sociology as Distinct from Social Philosophy; V: Sociology as Distinct From the Philosophy Of History and the Search for Historical Laws; VI: The Method and Technique of Formal Sociology; VII: The Prerequisites of Socialization; Summary; BOOK II: Social Science; Introduction; I: Submission; II: Opposition; III: The Numerical Relations of Social Forms; IV: The Spatial Relations of Social Forms; V: Social Conservation; VI: Social Differentiation; VII: The Individual and the Group; Summary; BOOK III: Social Philosophy; Introduction; I: Money and Individual Liberty; II: Money and the Style of Modern Life; Summary; Conclusion; Conclusion
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