‘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