Simmel on the ratio of subjective values to objective cultural possibilities

Omar K. Moore

pp. 199-224

in: Michael Kaern, Bernard S. Phillips, Robert S. Cohen (eds), Georg Simmel and contemporary sociology, Berlin, Springer, 1990

Abstract

There are several reasons for the renewal of interest in Simmel. For one thing, he responded to the drama of living at the turn of a century — the first edition of his magnum opus, The Philosophy of Money,¹ came out in 1900. Perhaps in a similar way some of us are anticipating the year 2000. We ask as he did, "What have we done with this century?" and "What will we do with the next?" Another consideration is that many of our students are finding Simmel deeper than we did. More than a few of my generation saw Marx as profound and Simmel as superficial. Currently this assessment is being reversed, or at least tempered, so that Simmel counts as profound, too.

Cited authors

Simmel Georg

Marx Karl