Money in Modern Culture and Other Essays

These essay-style reflections by the German philosopher, sociologist, and cultural theorist Georg Simmel (1858–1918) on fashion, the stranger, enmity, shame, discretion, the role of money, and conflict in modern culture provide a distinctive picture of modern society through an unusual perspective on everyday phenomena. Simmel is interesting and relevant because he is a perceptive and original analyst and critic of modernity. His conception of modernity, however, by its very nature, goes far beyond the contemporary framework of the late 19th century. His view of contemporary society is based on an analysis of the mentality of the metropolitan individual, which is marked by a neuroticism that is itself a reaction to the multitude of constantly changing impulses and stimuli that cannot be dealt with in traditional ways. From this springs the “blasé attitude” and indifference of the modern person, which is actually a self-defence against these influences, an escape into consumption (especially fashion and lifestyle creation) and the aestheticisation of life. The prerequisite for all of this, however, is money as a model of social interaction, as a symbol, as a means of simplifying market relations, as a constant measure of value, and as a mobilisation and condensation of values.