Simmel holds a view of individuals as creative beings. Individuals create, sustain and re-create the social world around them. This position of Simmel's might be described as a constructionist one. Individuals construct their social and cultural worlds. Simmel's sociology is a dynamic one. Simmel adopts a dialectical approach to human relationships. This dialectical approach, borrowed from Marx, suggests a dynamic relationship of interaction not only between human beings themselves but with their wider social environments.

To understand Simmel's sociology you must grasp the two concepts of contents and forms. Contents are the fundamental biological and psychological traits which human beings are said to possess. In short 'contents' are the raw material of individuals' motives and intentions. Traits such as desires, needs and wants which collectively Simmel refers to as the `psycho-biological complex' of human beings. In this basic state these contents are not social, nor does their existence of itself generate society and culture.

These contents must be transformed into social forms.   These social forms constitute what Simmel calls `sociality'. Individuals are said to engage in sociation when they are creating and recreating these social forms. Simmel's work is referred to as Formal Sociology precisely because it is concerned with the investigation of  these social forms. These social forms are the building blocks of society.

Examples of social forms would include economic exchange, fashion, a lecture or a political movement.

Simmel describes for us the process of development from our basic `psycho-biological' contents into social forms (sociality) and the building of human society. In describing this process Simmel seems to be explaining his views not only on the origins of `human society' as well as an ongoing process of the creation of new social forms.

These social forms eventually become part of the traditions and conventions of a society. It is important to recognize that the social forms become institutionalised. The social form now takes on a 'logic' and a reality of its own. We introduce the word reification here. To reify something is to objectify it. That is, to make it into an object and to perceive its existence as part of the natural or material world. It is to `imagine' that its existence is natural. Reification would also typically involve future generations perceiving the origins of this or that institution as natural or god-given.

Indeed the necessary condition of humanity is this 'sociability'. Simmel suggests that the defining element of humanity is its capacity for 'play'.

For Simmel there is a special type of social form. Such social forms have, he suggests no external objective or function. These are social forms, says Simmel, in which individuals engage in for their own sake. Play is central to this type of social form. Play involves each of the participants in:

`a satisfaction in the very fact that they are associated with others.'

There is no objective here, save the one of being with other people, says Simmel. Simmel suggests two examples of sociability to be; `dining out' where the object is `small-talk' and the other is coquetry.

For Simmel culture and cultural social forms are one of the more interesting and important aspects of any society.

Simmel defines culture as follows:

Simmel is not always rigorous in differentiating culture from society, however at least here we have something of a formal definition. He further divides this sphere of culture into objective culture and subjective culture. Subjective culture is said to follow:

` the logic of the unfolding human personality.'

This `logic' is the creative agency of individuals. Hence for Simmel subjective culture is vital and spontaneous and part of a groups 'lived reality'. However it is also shaped by a number of institutionalised social forms.  Individuals are capable of creative agency, yet this creativity takes place within the context of already existing social forms and institutions. Conversely then objective culture is defined as the collection of:

` ideal and actualized products which form the cultural sphere.'

These are the reified artefacts of a society's culture. Symbols, material objects etc. This is what has become, in a society `the cultural tradition' and its cultural history. This objective culture presents itself as an objective, reified world. For Simmel the role or function of objective culture is to express our relationship to amongst other things nature and to evil.

Both subjective and objective culture are in a changing dynamic relationship with one another. Simmel is here using the dialectical approach. Sometimes new elements of subjective will inform and change objective culture and itself become reified. However subjective and objective culture can become `out - of - step' with each other. And Simmel believed that this had happened in the Germany of his times. He argued that the objective culture had become `too objectified' and was leaving the subjective culture of individuals behind. The objective culture had become ossified and not just reified.

FRAGMENTED INDIVIDUALS

In any particular interaction we present bits or fragments of our selves. This not simply because we have different roles to play in the totality of our lives but primarily because we only engage in specific and particular interactions in which we only think of the immediate situation. Thus in any one interaction there is only likely to be a very specific part of ourselves being `played out'.

Simmel also makes the interesting point that individuals never see each other `properly'. Simmel is suggesting that we `assess' others on the basis of their similarity/difference to ourselves: Simmel was to pre-empt a 20th century `school' of sociology when he said:

`…we privately persist in labelling a man according to an unverbalised type.'

The other person whom we `label' could never conform to this type precisely because the label is an ideal. Real individuals can only approximate to ideals. Social reality, for Simmel, is always `veiled' then. It is veiled by the use of these generalisations. But the veils do not mask or hide a true reality or self. Rather it generates a particular `form' to the individual's personality.

`All of us are fragments.'

In some of his writings Simmel rejects a single and abstract and essentialist notion of the `self'. This is an abstraction which real people never think about must less use argues Simmel. Individuals engage in immediate and local interactions in which `fragments' of their `contents' (needs/wants) and their selves are expressed. Moreover this interaction may be based upon contradictory impulses.

‘A society is a structure which consists of beings who stand inside and outside of it at the same time. The individual is contained in [social forms] and at the same time finds himself confronted by it...he exists both for society and for himself.'   

Simmel suggests that the dyad is the most basic form of interaction/exchange. The dyadic relation (a relation between two individuals) involves immediate reciprocity between two individuals. And though its specific `contents' will vary it is its form that interests us.

SUMMARY & CRITICISMS

The difficulty with micro-sociological approaches such as Simmel's is that they typically underemphasise the importance of macro-sociological issues such as large institutions or societal processes. Simmel does go way some way to deal with the larger institutions in this case money and to a degree the division of labour. However he leaves the link between macro- and micro- concerns largely untheorized.

For more criticisms of Simmel see Craib's insightful discussion throughout the three sections [ 6, 10 and 14] devoted to Simmel.

READING GUIDE

There are a couple of texts which provide useful introductions to the work of Georg Simmel. The one which I would highlight as being especially worthy of your attention is:

Craib, I (1997) Classical Social Theory (Oxford University Press).

The second text is:

Ritzer, G (1993) Classical Sociological Theory (McGraw-Hall)

The discussion of Simmel takes place in Chapter 8 and at the end of the chapter is an interesting case-study on Simmel and the idea of 'secrecy'.

Frisby, D & Featherstone, M (eds) (1997) Simmel on Culture (Sage)

This text is a collection of original works by Simmel on the question of culture. If you are a beginner to the work of Simmel then you should restrict yourself to the introduction written by the editors.   The rest of the volume is a collection of articles written by Simmel himself. Simmel's writings are not easy or readily accessible. However you might, for starters try his essay on city life: 'The Metropolis and Mental Life' (Part Four: Page 174)