Georg Simmel Essays

was the same; a world where you did the same things, saw the same people, and had the same dull, lifeless conversations. Needless to say, this is not the world we live in. Georg Simmel’s perspective of “The Stranger” (1908) illustrates a world where our everyday interactions shape the society we currently live in. Georg Simmels view is a micro level approach that seeks to understand the role individuals play in communication and culture. Accepting these “strangers” is essential to break down cultural

Structuration theory: Its Application and Place among Other Sociological Theories Margaret Archer once stated that ‘the problem of structure and agency has rightly come to be seen as the basic issue in modern social theory’. The debate on whether human behavior is shaped by social surrounding, or is the outcome of individual’s own characteristics, today is the central issue in sociology. By his structuration theory, Giddens thus made an important attempt to address this problem. More specifically

Sociology can be defined as the systematic study of social behaviour and human groups. It mainly focuses on the influence of social relationships on people’s attitudes and behaviour and on how societies are established and how the change overtime [1]. A popular debate in the foundation of the discipline has been whether it should be treated as natural science or as a social science. The issue led to the division of sociologists. Three major theoretical perspectives can be identified at the foundation

Georg Simmel was a sociologist from the late 1800’s. Simmel formulated a view of society forms and the underlying patterns of interaction when he observables individuals. Simmel pointed out more distinctly that since only individuals are physically real, the subject matter of sociology must be an invisible world of symbols and forms of interaction. Simmel was interested in forms and underlying patterns of interaction. Simmel formal background of sociology demonstrated how humans see the world

Identity may be considered as the variety of personal and behavioral characteristics that describe one as a member of a particular group; therefore, individuals can differentiate themselves from other groups of individuals and create their own understanding of who they are depending on race, religion, culture, ethnicity and language (Fearon, 1999). On the other hand, as a result of the geographical and social movements and the keenness of belonging to a certain social community, individuals possibly

Socialization Gender stereotypes are over-generalizations about the characteristics of an entire group based on gender. Even though gender stereotypes have been perceived as having negative connotations, they can also have positive ones as well. We typically are defined by society due to gender roles which refers to the attitudes, behavior, and activities that are socially defined as for each sex and are learned through the socialization process. I believe when you have a society that has a manual

It is almost impossible to keep a secret in the world of today. There are countless social media sites and other technological advancements have made keeping something from others virtually impossible. Although, in the 19th century, it was extremely likely that one could take a secret, even of the utmost importance, to the grave. In Oscar Wilde's “Lady Windermere's Fan” the main source of conflict stems from the relationship between Lord Windermere and Mrs. Erlynne. They are the holders of a

Edgar Allan Poe’s stories all have some type of mysterious setting that makes the reader read in between the lines and decipher the meaning. His stories also incorporate a great deal of violence and sinister acts, which adds a grimness to each story he tells. “The Black Cat” is a true work of literature that incorporates a hidden meaning in the story with the use of sinister violence. In this particular story, the narrator’s use of the first-person point of view, symbolism through the characters

In “Death in Venice”, there are several figures who work as triggers that seduced Aschenbach out from his self-restrained appreciation of beauty, and pushed him gradually into the realm of desire and unrestrained impulsions, which ultimately leaded him to his death. These figures are contextual symbols in this novella, and to Aschenbach, the encountering with each figure represented a new change to his path, and pushes him forward in his journey. The plot of this novella, which is Aschenbach’s journal

On May 28, 1779 the history of Irish music would change forever. On this time in history, Thomas Moore was born into a Roman Catholic family. At this time in history in Ireland, Roman Catholics could not own land, be educated, or vote. Even though Thomas Moore was born into a Roman Catholic family, he still achieved greatness through his music. Thomas Moore was one of the first Catholics to go to Trinity College. He went to Trinity College to become a lawyer, which is what his mother wanted and

Plato’s The Symposium examines the way at which love is viewed and interpreted. This is accomplished through testaments from guests at the symposium praising Eros, the god of love. Through the telling of these stories, Plato indicates that the numerous interpretations of love allow humans to take love in whatever way works best for them. He does this by exploiting the differences in opinions and approaches of each speaker at the symposium. Eryximachus, a pompous and organized doctor and scientist

When George Frideric Handel was a little kid, his uncle gave him a clavier which was a small keyboard-like instrument in secret because he knew that George loved the beautiful notes of music. One night, his parents heard music wafting throughout the house in the middle of the night and knew not from whence it came. When they searched the house, they found George playing melodies on his instrument. This was one of the first times that he would experience music for himself and lead him to have a career

Since the beginning of humankind, discrimination is an unfair parameter, which categorizes people according to same criteria such as religion racism, politics, gender and sexual orientations. The most crucial type of discrimination is gender discrimination since “gender” is an inherited feature that was given to human and it is not a preferable thing. Although it is not preferable, people damaged notion of human-being by considering people separately as women and men, and clearly categorized them

The topic of compassion is an important element that affects our lives every day. Many philosophers have conjured their outlines for and against compassionate behavior. If we examine the philosophical approaches of compassion as a whole, rather than siding with which beliefs are thought to be right/wrong, humanity will begin to tear down their bias notions and reconstruct a strong, functioning, and united society. In this essay, Jean Jacques Rousseau and the Dalai Lama help explain the understandings

Week 1 sociology Tim McGregor 6 Oct 2015 Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 in Trier Prussia (Germany) and died of cancer on 14 March 1883 in London. Karl Marx is well known for being a key person in the founding of sociology, The Communist Manifesto and the Socio-political theory of Marxism. While Marx went to a Lutheran elementary school but later grow into an atheist and a materialist

In his famous work “The Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals” Kant tries to develop a moral philosophy which depends on fundamental concepts of reason and tries to show that while making moral choices we should use reason. Kant, as an Enlightenment philosopher, places all his confidence in reason. In the first chapter, we generally recognized that an action is moral if and only if it is performed for the sake of duty. Duty commands itself as imperative. There are two types of imperatives as hypothetical

From Father to Tragic Hero A tragic hero is someone who experiences successes and failures that eventually lead to their downfall. In Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”, Miller uses Willy Loman as a depressed and confused main character. He also leaves the question of whether or not Willy Loman a tragic hero up in the air. Miller uses the hopes and dreams of Willy Loman and turns them into failures to portray him as a tragic hero. From an outsider perspective, Willy Loman lives a normal life

The postmodernism approach analyzes both culture, and history, through critiques such as Marxism and psychoanalysis. The concept focuses on cultural representations exhibited through media, and the complications of our experiences of reality. Postmodernism also challenges traditional iterations of subjectivity as well as identity. It mainly functions to divide the bar between high art and popular culture. It may be drawn out and difficult to understand, but audiences accept the legitimacy of popular

by H.G. Wells, the narrator and main character Edward Prendick loses a Hegelian life and death struggle against the beast folk before he finds himself and escapes bondage. A Hegelian struggle is the search for self-awareness as it was put forth by Georg Friedrich Hegel. In Hegel’s theory, there must be a life and death battle while in the presence of fear. This battle ends in either death or surrender of one of the opponents. The supposed loser becomes the slave or bondsman of the alleged winner or

Julie Andrews experienced a career comeback with her portrayal of Maria von Trapp in the 1965 classic film, "The Sound of Music." Following her breakout role as Mary Poppins, Andrews faced several setbacks in her career, including a throat operation that threatened her singing voice. However, she made a triumphant return with "The Sound of Music," which became one of the biggest box office hits of all time and solidified her status as one of the most beloved actresses of her generation. "The Sound