Messages from Georg Simmel

As founder of the humanist version of sociology, Simmel sent powerful messages that are identified and explained in this book: interpretation - things are often not what they appear to be; change- culture and society evolve over time; interaction - reality is socially constructed; alienation - people define the value of money without taking responsibility for this construction. Simmel sees humans defining objects in interaction as valuable or worthless, but then they refuse to acknowledge having anything to do with the process of value attribution. He is critical in politics as well; Simmel is concerned that socialism is treated as a political movement and not viewed as a potential form of social interaction.

Horst J. Helle studied business administration, sociology and psychology at the University of Hamburg, leading to a Dr.phil. in 1959 and a Habilitation for Sociology in 1967. He held professor positions in Aachen and Wien; and since 1973 he is profesor at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany.