‘The Metropolis and Mental Life’
from The Sociology of Georg Simmel (1950) [1903]
Georg Simmel
Editors’ Introduction
a
{Georg Simmel (1858-1918) was a major figure in German philosophy end sociclogy who did much to eetabish
ban culture asa legitimate object of academic study. His influence was significant ath during his own ifetime
and in he yaa since his death, Simmel's work was a major in uence on the Chicago School, especialy Robert
Park, as well as onthe evolution of Manist phiosophy trough figures such as Emst Bloch, His workanditslegacy
‘sstilwicely read and debated andhe is racogrised as one ofthe moa sigifcant uiban theorists ofthe twentieth
century. Despite protic writing career, Simmel is best known fo is work on urban culture and paitculrly hia
‘eesay Metropolis and mental if! an exact rom wich follows.
‘Bom in Bern, Simmel was cleat influenced by the modem urban culture unfolding around him inthe later
half of the nineteenth contary. Sinmel's expertise spanned a vast field fem history and philosophy tothe social
sciences. This catholicism was apparent bythe time he received hi doctorate in philosophy from the University
0 Bern in 1881. His thesis was entitled ‘The Nature of Matter According to Kan's Physica Monadlogy’. While
remaining a popuiar Prvatdozent ~ effectively an unpaid lecturer whose income derived from student fees end
\who was unable to take part in many ofthe alfaiso the academic community ~ a the Unverait of Brin forfiteen
years, Simmel was something of an outsider academicaly. The position of Pivatdozentrmatked him as only marginal
to the fe and afar ofthe academic community. Despite bein international famous, widely published and
highly egarded by numerous leecng scholers, Simmel failed to secure a senior poston at any German uriveriy
Luntilhe was appointed a professor atthe Univesity of Strasbourg in 1814. One theory for this that many within
the academic community felt threatened by the groune-breaking bailance of Simms work.
‘Simmel wae a hugely prolific wter who addressed a vaety of audiences on numerous topics. Over 200 of
his aticies appeared in academic journals, newspapers and magazines and many more were publched afer his
‘deat. In acciton to this, he produced twenty-one books covering sociology, phiiosophy and cultural eritciam. His
‘wo most significant works were The Philosophy of Money (1900) which expanded many of the themes in
"Metropolis and mentale’ and Sociology: Investigations on the Forms of Sociation (1908).
One of Simmete most perceptive advocates is David Fishy. He discusses Simmels work in Fragments of
Modemity: Theories of Modernity inthe Work of Simmel, Kacauer and Benjomin (Carb, Polty, 1985)
and situates itamongstarange of ther esponses to and repesentaionsf hemodem metiopoisin Cilyscapes
of Modernity, (Oxford, Blackwel, 2001). n addition Wirth’ and Sinmma's work are discussed together in Mike
‘Savage, Alan Warde end Kevin Ward's Urban Sociology, Capitalism and Modernity (London, Palgrave, 2002).‘The deepest problems of madem life derive from the
cairn ofthe individual to preserve the autonomy and
individuality of his existence in the face of over-
‘whelming social forces. of historical heritage. of
extemal culture, and ofthe technique oflife. Te fight
With nature which primitive man has to wage for his,
bodily existence attains inthis modern form its latest
transformation, The eighteenth century called upon
‘man to free himself of al the historical bonds in the
state and in religion, in morals andin economics. Man's
nature, originally good and common to all, should
develop unhampered. In addition to more liberty, the
nineteenth century demanded the functional special-
ization of man and his work: this specialization mekes
‘ne individual incomparable to another, and each of
them indispensable to the highest possible extent
However, this specialization makes each man the more
rectly dependent upon the supplementary activities
ofall others. Nietzsche ses the fulldevelopment ofthe
{individual conditioned by the most ruthless struggle of
individuals; socialism believes in the suppression cfall
competition for the same reason, Be that a it may,
inall these positions the same basic motive is at work:
the person resists being levelled down and worn out
bya socil-technological mechanism. An enquiry into
the inner meaning of specifically moder life and its
productsinto the soul ofthe cultura body, soto speak,
rust seek to solve the equation which structures lke
the metropolis set up between the individual and the
supraindividval contents of if, Such an enguiry must
answer the question of how the personality accom-
rmodates itself the adjustments to extemal forces.
‘This willbe my task today.
‘The psychological basis ofthe metropolitan tye of
individuality consists in the intensification of nervous
stimulation which results from the swift and uninter-
rupted change of outer and inner stimuli. Man is @
cilferentating creature. His mind is stimulated by the
diiference between 2 momentary impression and the
‘one which preceded it. Lasting impressions, impres-
sions which difer only slightly ffom one another,
Impressions which take a regular and habitual course
and show regular andhabituel contrasts all these use
up 50 to speak, less consciousness than does the rapid
crovtding of changing images, the sharp discontinuity
inthe grasp ofa single glance, and the unexpectedness
‘of onrushing impressions. These are the psychological
conditions which the metropolis creates. With each
crossing ofthe street, with the tempo and multiplicity
‘of economic, occupational and socal if, the city sets
STHE METROPOLIS AND MENTAL LIFE"
vp a deep contras with small town and rural ie with
reference to the sensory foundations of psychic life.
‘The metropolis exacts from man as a diseriminating
creature different amount of consciousness than does
rural lif, Here the rhythm of if and sensory mental
imagery flows more siowiy, more habitually, and moce
‘evenly. Precisely in this connection the sophisticated
character of metropolitan psychic life becomes under-
standable 25 over against small town Bie which rests
more upon deeply felt and emotional relationships.
‘These latter are rooted nthe more unconscious layers
of the psyche and grow most readily in the steady
rhythm of uninterrupted habituations. The intellect,
however, has its locus inthe transparent, conscious,
higher layers ofthe psyche; itis the most adaptable of
‘our inner forces. in order to accommodate to change
and to the contrast of phenomena, the intellect does
‘not require any shocks and inner upheavals; itis only
through such upheavals that the more conservative
mind could accommodate o the metropolitan shythm
ofevents. Thus the metropolitan type of man— which,
of course, exists in ¢ thousand individual variants
= develops an organ protecting him against the
threatening currents and discrepancies of his external
environment wich would uproot him, He reacts with
his head instead of his heart. In this an increased
awareness assumes the psychic prerogative. Metto-
poltan if, thus.underies a heightened awareness and
a predominance of inceligence in metropolitan man.
‘The reaction to metropolitan phenomena is shifted
to that organ which is east sensitive and quite remote
from the depth of the personality. Intllectuality is
thus seen to preserve subjective life against the over-
‘whelming power of metropolitan fe, andintellectuality
branches outin many directions andis integrated with
‘numerous discrete phenomena,
‘The metropolis has always been the seat of the
money economy. Here the multiplicity and concen-
tration of econcmie exchange gives an importance to
the means of exchange which the scantiness of rural
commerce would not have allowed. Money economy
and the dominance of the intellect are intrinsically
connected. They share matter-of-fact attitude in