Lecture 8

Georg Simmel

micro

Georg Simmel extended sociological inquiry into everyday life, at the ______ level

1. Form

2. Interaction

3. Duality

What were the 3 core concepts of Simmel’s formal sociology?

• Form → shape/outline of something

• Content → what something is about, basic characteristics

What’s the difference between form and content?

Persistent patterns and structures of interactions that cross-cut various contents

What are forms in sociology and its relations to social interactions?

forms, interaction

According to Simmel, sociology’s task is to identify ______ and the subject matter for sociology is social ______

• psychology

• reciprocal

According to Simmel, social interactions:

• Have their own dynamics, independent of individual _______

• Are constituted through intersubjective and ______ influence, not external and coercive to individuals

pure

Simmel focuses on different forms of social interactions (ex: conflict, sociability, secrecy , flirting…) and their ______ aspects

The fact that meaning emerges from conflicts and contrasts between opposed categories

What’s duality?

number

According to Simmel, the character of social interactions changes based on the _______ of people involved

• 2

• apart

  • fragile, engagement

  • mortality

• intimacy

• repetitive

Characteristics of the dyad as a group:

• __ people

• The whole relation depends only on the 2 people and if one withdraws, it falls ______

  • It’s a more ______ relation and demands deeper ______ of each member → both people must be meaningfully engaged

  • Marked by a sense of ______ because the relation is subject to dissolution

• Forms the basis of _____ due to high vulnerability and relying on the other

• Can also get _____ and descend into triviality

• unite

• Divisions

• individual

• roles

• interactions

Characteristics of the triad as a group:

• Can _____ people and make the relation stronger

• ______ within the group can emerge

• The group can dominate the ______

• Can create new _______ within the group

• Social ______ change in form compared to a dyad

• Non-partisan mediator

  • 3rd person moderates interactions between the 2 other people and can broker deals

• Tertius Gaudens - 3rd who enjoys

  • 3rd person can use disputes between the 2 other people

  • Ex: manipulate disagreements for own interests

What are the 2 new possible roles created by a triad?

interaction, associating

According to Simmel, sociability is one of the purest forms of social _______ because it’s really for the sake of _____, not driven by content (what you’re talking about)

1. Autonomous: done for the pleasures of interacting, no ulterior motive

2. Artifice: acting as if everyone is interesting and equal, leaving behind statuses

3. Playful: takes even the most serious content and transforms it into fodder for conversation

What are the 3 features of sociability?

seriousness

Sociability is important because it provides distance from _______ of life

Because its meaning lies in the form of interaction, while the content is merely in the service of this form (it’s secondary)

Why is sociability an example of a social form of interaction?

The type of character who occupies typical positions within a form of interaction

What’s a social type?

• Someone who is simultaneously close and distant to the members of a social circle

  • Close physical proximity

  • Social distance

• They are part insider, part outsider

How does Simmel defines the social type of stranger functionally?

Jews are economic traders, and are treated as both insiders and outsiders to the community

How are Jews a classic case of the stranger?

1. Objectivity → offers greater objectivity because they are not tied to the normative expectations and constraints among insiders

2. Emotional confidants → closeness makes it possible to receive revelations and secrets while distance makes it possible to reveal matters normally kept from close ones (because these revelations won’t spillover and become known)

3. Abstractedness → proximity makes people feel they share something in common, but distance means that they share general abstract qualities that could be shared with anybody (common humanity)

What are the 3 traits of the stranger as a social type?