The Routledge International Handbook of Simmel Studies (Routledge International Handbooks)

__The Routledge International Handbook of Simmel Studies__ documents the richness, variety, and creativity of contemporary international research on Georg Simmel’s work. Starting with the established role of Simmel as a classical author of sociology, and including the growing interest in his work in the domain of philosophy, this volume explores the research on Simmel in several further disciplines including art, social aesthetics, literature, theatre, essayism, and critical theory, as well as in the debates on cosmopolitanism, economic pathologies of life, freedom, modernity, religion, and nationalism. Bringing together contributions from leading specialists in research on Simmel, the book is thematically arranged in order to highlight the relevance of his oeuvre for different fields of recent research, with a further section tracing the most important paths that Simmel’s reception has taken in the world. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences and humanities, and to sociologists, philosophers, and social theorists in particular, with interest in Simmel’s thought. The Routledge International Handbook of Simmel Studies documents the richness, variety, and creativity of contemporary international research on Georg Simmel’s work. Starting with the established role of Simmel as a classical author of sociology, and including the growing interest in his work in the domain of philosophy, this volume explores the research on Simmel in several further disciplines including art, social aesthetics, literature, theatre, essayism, and critical theory, as well as in the debates on cosmopolitanism, economic pathologies of life, freedom, modernity, religion, and nationalism. Bringing together contributions from leading specialists in research on Simmel, the book is thematically arranged in order to highlight the relevance of his oeuvre for different fields of recent research, with a further section tracing the most important paths that Simmel’s reception has taken in the world. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences and humanities, and to sociologists, philosophers, and social theorists in particular, with interest in Simmel’s thought. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of figures 9 List of tables 10 Notes on contributors 11 General introduction 16 PART I: Biography 30 1. Simmel’s life: an unexplored continent 32 PART II: Sociology 46 2. Simmel’s resonance with contemporary sociological debates 48 3. Relations, forms, and the representation of the social life: Georg Simmel and the challenge of relational sociology as Lebenssoziologie 61 4. Boundaries as relations: Georg Simmel’s relational theory of boundaries 75 5. The actuality of a sociological research programme 93 PART III: Philosophy 106 6. Relativism: a theoretical and practical philosophical programme 108 7. The art of complicating things 126 8. Georg Simmel, Hans Blumenberg, and philosophical anthropology 137 9. Simmel’s ‘late life metaphysics’ 153 PART IV: Art and aesthetics 168 10. Art and knowledge in Simmel’s thought and writing style 170 11. Social aesthetics 185 12. Philosophy of art 199 13. Framing, painting, seeing: Simmel’s Rembrandt and the sense of modernity 211 PART V: Literature and theatre 226 14. Literary practice and immanent literary theory 228 15. The Goethean heritage in Simmel’s work 240 16. Simmel: the actor and his roles 254 PART VI: Essayism and critical theory 264 17. Georg Simmel and the ‘newspaper sociology’ of the 1920s and 1930s 266 18. Georg Simmel and critical theory 276 PART VII: Topics of debate 292 19. Freedom: an open debate 294 20. Georg Simmel’s theory of religion 312 21. Georg Simmel: war, nation, and Europe 329 22. Simmel’s cosmopolitanism 340 23. Economic pathologies of life 351 PART VIII: Lines of reception 366 24. Simmel’s American legacy revisited 368 25. Goffman, Schutz, and the ‘secret of the other’: on the American sociological reception of Simmel’s ‘das Geheimnis des Anderen’ 387 26. Traces of Simmel in Latin America: modernity, nation, and memory 398 Index 411 "General introduction; 1 Simmel’s life: an unexplored continent; 2 Simmel’s resonance with contemporary sociological debates; 3 Relations,forms,and the representation of the social life: Georg Simmel and the challenge of relational sociology as Lebenssoziologie; 4 Boundaries as relations: Georg Simmel’s relational theory of boundaries; 5 The actuality of a sociological research programme; 6 Relativism: a theoretical and practical philosophical programme; 7 The art of complicating things; 8 Georg Simmel,Hans Blumenberg,and philosophical anthropology; 9 Simmel’s ‘late life metaphysics’; 10 Art and knowledge in Simmel’s thought and writing style; 11 Social aesthetics; 12 Philosophy of art; 13 Framing,painting,seeing: Simmel’s Rembrandt and the sense of modernity; 14 Literary practice and immanent literary theory; 15 The Goethean heritage in Simmel’s work; 16 Simmel: the actor and his roles; 17 Georg Simmel and the ‘newspaper sociology’ of the 1920s and 1930s; 18 Georg Simmel and critical theory; 19 Freedom: an open debate; 20 Georg Simmel’s theory of religion; 21 Georg Simmel: war,nation,and Europe; 22 Simmel’s cosmopolitanism; 23 Economic pathologies of life; 24 Simmel’s American legacy revisited; 25 Goffman,Schutz,and the ‘secret of the other’: on the American sociological reception of Simmel’s ‘das Geheimnis des Anderen’; 26 Traces of Simmel in Latin America: modernity,nation,and memory" General introduction; 1 Simmel’s life: an unexplored continent; 2 Simmel’s resonance with contemporary sociological debates; 3 Relations, forms, and the representation of the social life: Georg Simmel and the challenge of relational sociology as Lebenssoziologie; 4 Boundaries as relations: Georg Simmel’s relational theory of boundaries; 5 The actuality of a sociological research programme; 6 Relativism: a theoretical and practical philosophical programme; 7 The art of complicating things; 8 Georg Simmel, Hans Blumenberg, and philosophical anthropology; 9 Simmel’s ‘late life metaphysics’; 10 Art and knowledge in Simmel’s thought and writing style; 11 Social aesthetics; 12 Philosophy of art; 13 Framing, painting, seeing: Simmel’s Rembrandt and the sense of modernity; 14 Literary practice and immanent literary theory; 15 The Goethean heritage in Simmel’s work; 16 Simmel: the actor and his roles; 17 Georg Simmel and the ‘newspaper sociology’ of the 1920s and 1930s; 18 Georg Simmel and critical theory; 19 Freedom: an open debate; 20 Georg Simmel’s theory of religion; 21 Georg Simmel: war, nation, and Europe; 22 Simmel’s cosmopolitanism; 23 Economic pathologies of life; 24 Simmel’s American legacy revisited; 25 Goffman, Schutz, and the ‘secret of the other’: on the American sociological reception of Simmel’s ‘das Geheimnis des Anderen’; 26 Traces of Simmel in Latin America: modernity, nation, and memory This book documents the richness, variety and creativity of contemporary international research on Georg Simmel's work, moving beyond the disciplinary boundaries of sociology and philosophy into other fields, and tracing the different paths that Simmel's reception has taken in various regions of the world.