Georg Simmel

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Georg Simmel

Georg Simmel was born in 1858 in Berlin, Germany. Simmel studied history and philosophy at the University of Berlin. He went on to receive his doctorate in philosophy in 1881. For fifteen years, Simmel remained at the University of Berlin as an unpaid lecturer, dependent on student fees. His lectures were very popular with students as well as the cultural elite of Berlin. During this time, however, he was never allowed to take part in the events of the academic community. He was stigmatized as an academic outsider and had trouble finding an academic position in Germany, Europe, and the United States. Even with the highest recommendation from the great thinker Max Weber, he was continually denied academic positions.

Despite being an academic outsider, Simmel continued to take part in the world of sociology. He was even a co-founder of the German Society for Sociology (with Weber and Toennies). Finally in 1914, Simmel was hired on as a full professor at the University of Strasbourg. Ironically, when he reached this academic goal, he was no longer given the opportunity to lecture to students, something he so greatly enjoyed (lecture halls were converted into military hospitals at the start of the war). In 1918, right before the end of the war, Simmel died of liver cancer, and was never able to move up in the academic world.

The works of Simmel have been extremely important in the world of sociology. Simmel was successful in publishing more than two hundred articles, which appeared in everything from scholarly journals to newspapers and magazines. His major contribution to sociological theory was the idea that society is made up of a web of "patterned interaction." He felt it was the job of sociology to study these interactions as they occurred in the past as well as how they occur in different cultural settings.

Simmel was studying sociology when Comte and Spencer dominated the discipline. They felt that society was an organism that could be studied as such (Functionalism). Simmel disagreed and explained that society was "merely the name for a number of individuals, connected by interaction." Thus began his influence on symbolic interaction. Simmel felt that the major unit of analysis for a sociology student was the patterns and forms by which men (and women) interact and associate with one another. Simmel did not disagree that sociology should also study social structures, however, he just felt that he was to study "interactions among the atoms of society." This was later to be called "micro-sociology."

Simmel's notion that a sociologist could make abstractions from concrete observation soon became known as "formal sociology." It was so named because human interaction can be studied in its form. His use of the word form is similar to what today is called "social structure." Elements of the form are what modern sociologists today call such things as status, role, norms and expectations. Simmel called these "formal conceptualizations."

Throughout his work, he relied upon social actions in relation to the actions of others. Among other contributions, Simmel coined the terms dyad and triads. These terms refer to groups of two and three people. This was central to his study of interactions, and continues to be important today. His most notable modern contribution was his emphasis on social interaction.


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Other Influential Contributors Georg Simmel Georg Simmel was born in 1858 in Berlin, Germany. Simmel studied history and philosophy at the University of Berlin. He went on to receive his doctorate in philosophy in 1881. For fifteen years, Simmel remained at the University of Berlin as an unpaid lecturer, dependent on student fees. His lectures were very popular with students as well as the cultural elite of Berlin. During this time, however, he was never allowed to take part in the events of the academic community. He was stigmatized as an academic outsider and had trouble finding an academic position in Germany, Europe, and the United States. Even with the highest recommendation from the great thinker Max Weber, he was continually denied academic positions. Despite being an academic outsider, Simmel continued to take part in the world of sociology. He was even a co-founder of the German Society for Sociology (with Weber and Toennies). Finally in 1914, Simmel was hired on as a full professor at the University of Strasbourg. Ironically, when he reached this academic goal, he was no longer given the opportunity to lecture to students, something he so greatly enjoyed (lecture halls were converted into military hospitals at the start of the war). In 1918, right before the end of the war, Simmel died of liver cancer, and was never able to move up in the academic world. The works of Simmel have been extremely important in the world of sociology. Simmel was successful in publishing more than two hundred articles, which appeared in everything from scholarly journals to newspapers and magazines. His major contribution to sociological theory was the idea that society is made up of a web of "patterned interaction." He felt it was the job of sociology to study these interactions as they occurred in the past as well as how they occur in different cultural settings. Simmel was studying sociology when Comte and Spencer dominated the discipline. They felt that society was an organism that could be studied as such (Functionalism). Simmel disagreed and explained that society was "merely the name for a number of individuals, connected by interaction." Thus began his influence on symbolic interaction. Simmel felt that the major unit of analysis for a sociology student was the patterns and forms by which men (and women) interact and associate with one another. Simmel did not disagree that sociology should also study social structures, however, he just felt that he was to study "interactions among the atoms of society." This was later to be called "micro-sociology." Simmel's notion that a sociologist could make abstractions from concrete observation soon became known as "formal sociology." It was so named because human interaction can be studied in its form. His use of the word form is similar to what today is called "social structure." Elements of the form are what modern sociologists today call such things as status, role, norms and expectations. Simmel called these "formal conceptualizations." Throughout his work, he relied upon social actions in relation to the actions of others. Among other contributions, Simmel coined the terms dyad and triads. These terms refer to groups of two and three people. This was central to his study of interactions, and continues to be important today. His most notable modern contribution was his emphasis on social interaction.