Georg Simmel: biography. Philosophy of Georg Simmel

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

The life of the German thinker and sociologist was intellectually rich. His biography is full of difficulties, but there are many achievements in it. His views became widespread and popular during his lifetime, but the greatest demand for Simmel's ideas came in the second half of the 20th century.

Childhood

The future philosopher was born in Berlin on March 1, 1858 in a large family of a we althy businessman. George's childhood proceeded quite normally, the parents took care of their children, tried to give them a better future. The father, a Jew by origin, adopted the Catholic faith, the mother converted to Lutheranism, in which the children were baptized, including George. Until the age of 16, the boy studied well at school, demonstrated success in mastering mathematics and history. It seemed that the typical fate of a merchant awaits him, but in 1874 Simmel's father dies, and Georg's life changes. The mother cannot support her son, and a family friend becomes his guardian. He finances the young man's education and sponsors his admission to the University of Berlin at the Faculty of Philosophy.

Study and formationviews

At the university, Simmel studies with outstanding thinkers of his time: Lazarus, Mommsen, Steinthal, Bastian. Already in his university days, he clearly demonstrates his dialectical mindset, which would later be noted by such philosophers as Pitirim Sorokin, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim. But at the same time, the main life collision is outlined, which will complicate the lives of many people in Europe at that time. Georg Simmel was no exception, whose biography was very difficult because of his nationality. At the end of the course of study at the university, the philosopher tries to defend his doctoral dissertation, but he is refused. The reason is not directly stated. But in Berlin at that time, anti-Semitic sentiments reigned and, despite the fact that he was a Catholic by religion, he did not manage to hide his Jewish nationality. He had a pronounced Jewish appearance, and this subsequently hindered him more than once in life. After some time, thanks to perseverance and perseverance, George managed to get a degree, but this did not open the desired doors for him.

The hard life of a German philosopher

After graduating from university, Simmel is looking for a teaching position, but he is not given a permanent job, again because of personal data. He gets the position of Privatdozent, which does not bring a guaranteed income, but consists entirely of student contributions. Therefore, Simmel lectures a lot and writes a large number of articles that are addressed not only to the academic environment, but also to the general public. He wasAn excellent speaker, his lectures were characterized by breadth, original approach and interesting presentation. Simmel's lectures were energetic, and he had the ability to captivate his audience by thinking aloud on a wide variety of topics. He was a constant success with students and local intelligentsia, for 15 years of work in this position, he won a certain fame and made friends with significant thinkers in his environment, for example, with Max Weber. But for a long time the scientific community did not seriously recognize the philosopher; sociology had not yet won the status of a fundamental discipline at that time. The Berlin circle of scientists laughed at the original thinking scientist, and it hurt him. Although he continued to work with perseverance: meditate, write articles, lecture.

In 1900, however, he received official recognition, he was given the title of honorary professor, but still he did not achieve the desired status. It was not until 1914 that he finally became an academic professor. By this time, he already had more than 200 scientific and popular science publications. But he does not receive a position at his native university in Berlin, but in provincial Strasbourg, which was the source of his experiences until the end of his life. He did not get along with the local scientific elite, and the last years of his life felt loneliness and alienation.

Ideas about the laws of life

Georg Simmel differed from his great contemporaries by the absence of a clear belonging to any philosophical movement. His path was full of throwing, he thought about many things, finding such objects forphilosophical reflection, which previously did not interest thinkers. The lack of a clear position did not work in favor of Simmel. This was another reason for the difficulty of integrating the philosopher into the scientific community. But precisely because of this breadth of thought, he was able to contribute to the development of several important topics of philosophy at once. There are many people in science whose work is only appreciated years later, and such was Georg Simmel. The biography of the thinker is full of work and endless reflections.

Georg Simmel's dissertation was dedicated to I. Kant. In it, the philosopher tried to comprehend the a priori principles of the social structure. The beginning of the thinker's path is also illuminated by the influence of C. Darwin and G. Spencer. In line with their concepts, Simmel interpreted the theory of knowledge, revealing the natural and biological foundations of ethics. The philosopher saw the existence of a person in society as the central problem of his reflections, therefore he is ranked among the direction with the name "philosophy of life". He connects knowledge with the concept of life and sees its main law in going beyond biological limits. Human existence cannot be considered outside of its natural conditioning, however, it is impossible to reduce everything only to them, since this coarsens the meaning of being.

Georg Simmel's social philosophy

In Berlin, Simmel, together with like-minded people, among whom were M. Weber and F. Tennis, organized the German Society of Sociologists. He actively thought about the object, subject and structure of the new science, formulated the principles of the social structure. Describing society, GeorgSimmel, social interaction was presented as the result of contacts between many people. At the same time, he brought out the main features of the social structure. Among them are such as the number of participants in the interaction (there can be no less than three), the relationship between them, the highest form of which is cohesion, and social space. It is he who introduces this term into scientific circulation, which denotes the sphere of communication, which the participants define as their own. He calls money and socialized intellect the most important social forces. Simmel creates a classification of forms of social existence, which is based on the degree of proximity or remoteness from the "stream of life". Life, on the other hand, is presented to the philosopher as a chain of experiences that are conditioned both by biology and culture.

Ideas of modern culture

Georg Simmel thought a lot about social processes and the nature of contemporary culture. He recognized that the most important driving force in society is money. He wrote a huge work "Philosophy of money", in which he described their social functions, discovered their beneficial and negative impact on modern society. He said that, ideally, a single currency should be created that could ease cultural contradictions. He was pessimistic about the social possibilities of religion and the future of modern culture.

Functions of social conflict

Society, according to Simmel, is based on enmity. The interaction of people in society always takes the form of struggle. Competition, submissionand domination, division of labor - all these are forms of enmity, which inevitably lead to social conflicts. Simmel believed that they initiate the formation of new norms and values of society, they are an integral element of the evolution of society. The philosopher also identified a number of other functions of the conflict, built a typology, described its stages, outlined methods for its settlement.

Fashion Concept

Reflections on social forms form the basis of philosophy, authored by Georg Simmel. Fashion, in his opinion, is an important element of modern society. In his work Philosophy of Fashion, he studied the phenomenon of this social process and came to the conclusion that it appears only together with urbanization and modernization. In the Middle Ages, for example, it did not exist, says Georg Simmel. Fashion theory comes from the fact that it satisfies the need of individuals for identification, helps new social groups to win their place in society. Fashion is a sign of democratic societies.

The scientific significance of the philosophical views of Georg Simmel

The significance of Simmel's work can hardly be overestimated. He is one of the founders of sociology, reveals the causes of social development, comprehends the role of money and fashion in the culture of mankind. Georg Simmel, whose conflictology became the basis for social philosophy of the second half of the 20th century, left a serious work on social confrontations. He had a significant influence on the formation of the American directionsociology and became a harbinger of postmodern thinking.