The Philosophy of Money is the most famous work of the German sociologist and philosopher Georg Simmel, who is considered one of the key representatives of the so-called late philosophy of life (irrational movement). In his work, he closely studies the issues of monetary relations, the social function of money, as well as the logical consciousness in all sorts of manifestations - from modern democracy to the development of technology. This book was one of his first works on the spirit of capitalism.
What is the treatise about?
In the treatise "Philosophy of Money," the author insists that they are not only a means of subsistence, but also an important tool for relations between people, as well as between entire states. The philosopher notes: in order to earn and receive money, they must be carefully studied. Just like any thing in this world. The author’s work is dedicated to this.
In the book Philosophy of Money, Simmel manages to formulate his own theory. In its framework, he considers money as part of the social and cultural life of every person.
The main issues of the treatise
In his book, the philosopher considers a number of issues that are of great interest to all, without exception. In the Philosophy of Money, the author tries to evaluate their value, exchange, and also the monetary culture existing on the planet as a whole.
According to Simmel, a person lives in two completely independent from one another and parallel realities. Firstly, this is the reality of values, and secondly, the reality of being. The author of the Philosophy of Money notes that the very nature of values exists as if separately, complementing the reality surrounding each individual.
The fact is that, from the point of view of Simmel, objects exist in the world independently of each other. The relationship between them is tied exclusively to the definition of self and the emergence of subjective-objective relationships. At the same time, the human brain formulates the idea of objects in an independent category, which is not directly connected with the process of thinking.
The book "Philosophy of Money" describes that this leads to the fact that the assessment itself turns into a natural psychic phenomenon, and this happens regardless of the so-called objective reality. Thus, we can conclude that the opinion about the object that has formed in a particular person is his value.
Economic values
In the Philosophy of Money, Georg Simmel seeks to formulate what is an economic value. When only one of all types of existing facilities fully meets the requirements, they are differentiated. Then one of them is given a special meaning.
In this case, the subjective process (impulse or desire can be attributed to it), as well as objective, that is, the need to make efforts to begin to possess the object, make up its economic value. In a particular case, it is just from subjective impulses that needs turn into values, argues G. Simmel in the Philosophy of Money.
Their appearance takes into account the need to compare one need with another, to find out how they can be interchanged, and also to determine comparative benefits and results. This is the main idea of the work. Today, finding out where to find George Simmel's Philosophy of Money is not so simple. It is not found in bookstores or on the Internet. Therefore, the main thoughts of this treatise set forth in this article, at least allow you to get acquainted with the main ideas of this work.
Exchange
An important place in the Simmel paradigm is exchange. As a result, it becomes a confirmation of the subjectivity of the value itself. It turns out that the whole economy is just a special kind of interaction, which takes into account that not only material objects are subject to direct exchange, which is obvious, but also values that we can consider as subjective opinions of people.
Simmel considers the exchange process itself in comparison with production. Moreover, he writes, there is a certain impulse that makes people strive to get this object, exchanging it for their own labor efforts or another product.
The advent of money
In his work, the author sets forth the laws of money and philosophy. He emphasizes that the very emergence and appearance of money “as a third party” in all these relationships becomes a phenomenon of a fundamentally new cultural layer, as well as a consequence of a severe cultural crisis. So, money turns into a general formula of means in assigning goals.
This scheme leads to the fact that there is an object that meets our needs. But money in the modern world is turning into the ultimate and absolute goal for everyone, gaining as a result self-worth.
Conclusions from Simmel's treatise
Thus, we can conclude that, from the point of view of the philosopher, if a person begins to attach less importance to the money itself, and more cares about the object and goals, as well as the ways of their appropriation, then the goals themselves ultimately become more accessible to him.
It turns out that the goal of making money just for the sake of making money does not lead to success. But one must earn in order to realize a completely tangible and concrete goal. According to the philosopher, this approach to life is the first step to success. So G. Simmel formulates the philosophy of money in the theory of the society that surrounds us.
Philosopher's Biography
In this article, it is necessary to pay attention to the biographies of this philosopher, who has become a guru for many modern capitalists around the world. This German sociologist and thinker was born in 1858. He was born in Berlin.
His parents were wealthy people who did not refuse anything to their son, so they provided him with a versatile education. By nationality they were Jews. At the same time, his father adopted Catholicism at a mature age, and his mother became a Lutheran. Simmel himself was baptized as a child in a Lutheran church.
After successfully graduating from the University of Berlin, he remained in it to teach. His career was very long (Simmel worked at the school for about twenty years), but because of the anti-Semitic views of his superiors he did not succeed in moving up the career ladder.
For too long, he held a very low position as a private assistant professor, despite the fact that he was popular among students and students of his lectures. He was supported by such famous scientists of the time as Heinrich Rickert and Max Weber.
In 1901, Simmel became a freelance professor, and in 1914 he was enrolled in the staff of the University of Strasbourg. There he found himself in actual isolation from the Berlin scientific community. When the First World War began, the university ceased its activities.
Philosopher Georg Simmel passed away shortly before graduation. He died in French Strasbourg from liver cancer. The scientist was at that time 60 years old.
Key philosophical ideas
The main philosophical views that Simmel adhered to in his writings were that he attributed himself to the academic branch of the philosophy of life. It was a popular in the 19th century irrationalist direction mainly in German philosophy. Among its prominent representatives, Henri Bergson and Friedrich Nietzsche can be noted.
In the works of Simmel, one can find obvious traces of neo-Kantianism, in particular, one of his dissertations is just devoted to Kant. He has published many works on history, philosophy, ethics, philosophy of culture and aesthetics. In sociology, the scientist became the creator of the theory of social interaction; he is also considered the founder of conflictology, one of the important directions in modern science.
Simmel's worldview was that life is an endless stream of our experiences. Moreover, these experiences themselves are determined by the cultural and historical process. Like continuous creative formation, life is not subject to rational-mechanical knowledge. Only through a direct experience of events and diverse individual forms of the realization of life in culture can one come to an interpretation of this experience and through it comprehend life.
The philosopher was convinced that the whole historical process is subject to a certain fate, in contrast to the powerful nature, in which the law of causality rules everything. For all this, the specificity of the philosopher’s humanitarian knowledge was close to the methodological principles formulated by the German idealist philosopher and cultural historian Wilhelm Dilthey.
Fashion philosophy
Surprisingly, one of the directions of Simmel's work was devoted to the study of fashion philosophy. He believed that it occupies an important place in the development of the whole society. The philosopher investigated the origins of its occurrence, analyzing the tendency to imitate at all times. He was convinced that the attractiveness of imitation for a particular person is to be able to meaningfully and purposefully act where there is nothing creative and personal.
At the same time, fashion itself is an imitation of the model, satisfying the need for social support. This leads a particular person to a rut along which everything else follows. Fashion, according to Simmel, is one of the forms of life that is able to satisfy our needs for distinction and a desire for isolation from the general mass.