It cannot be denied that the late 18th century was a revolutionary era to the world. Significant events such as the emergence of the industrial revolution, the rise of capitalism and individualism, but more importantly, people migration from rural to urban area, were topics clearly depicted in the writings of Ferdinand Tönnies and Georg Simmel. Tönnies’ Community and Society and Simmel’s the Metropolis and Mental Life writings mainly illustrate the dramatic changes that the world faced as a result of the transition from traditional society to modern society. Furthermore, Tönnies and Simmel developed concepts to explain human interaction to society. Tönnies, for instance, established the concepts of Gemeinschaft (community) and Gesellschaft
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Essential will prioritizes the community’s goals over the individual goals. The community takes away individual’s independence; therefore, people are more attached to groups. On the other hand, Tonnies emphasized that individuals who belong to Gesellschaft or society, follow their arbitrary will. Arbitrary will tells individuals to act on their own self-interest, which mainly encompasses to put the community or group of people aside and focus on their personal goals. As been born in the late 20th century, I could totally agree with Tönnies’ Gesellschaft concept and its ideas. People in modern society are guided by self-interest, which may be positive in many ways because it promotes individuality. However, by focusing too much in self-individuality institutions and concepts such as family, unity, compassion and sympathy may be lost. The lack of interest in helping others may result in a dysfunctional society in which order will be absent. As learned in my Theories of Social Order (SOC-314) class, and stated in Emile Durkheim’s Division of Labor [DOL] reading, when a society lacks order and individuals only focus on their personal goals, this will cause anomie or normlessness within that society which according to Durkheim, results from accelerated or dramatic social …show more content…
According to Simmel, if an individual spends most of his/her time in the metropolis, he/she develops a blasé attitude, which protects him/her from the complicated and overwhelmed life of the metropolis. A blasé attitude is described as an indifference towards distinctions between things. Furthermore, the individual who is used to the life in the metropolis also carries an independent and autonomous attitude. In the metropolis, the population is always growing and most of the time there are changes in the surroundings (construction of new buildings), in contrast with the urban community. According to Simmel, individuals living in rural communities are not exposed to the same overstimulation as people living in the metropolis because people living in the rural communities do not face the same changes on their surroundings as people living in the
Essential will prioritizes the community’s goals over the individual goals. The community takes away individual’s independence; therefore, people are more attached to groups. On the other hand, Tonnies emphasized that individuals who belong to Gesellschaft or society, follow their arbitrary will. Arbitrary will tells individuals to act on their own self-interest, which mainly encompasses to put the community or group of people aside and focus on their personal goals. As been born in the late 20th century, I could totally agree with Tönnies’ Gesellschaft concept and its ideas. People in modern society are guided by self-interest, which may be positive in many ways because it promotes individuality. However, by focusing too much in self-individuality institutions and concepts such as family, unity, compassion and sympathy may be lost. The lack of interest in helping others may result in a dysfunctional society in which order will be absent. As learned in my Theories of Social Order (SOC-314) class, and stated in Emile Durkheim’s Division of Labor [DOL] reading, when a society lacks order and individuals only focus on their personal goals, this will cause anomie or normlessness within that society which according to Durkheim, results from accelerated or dramatic social …show more content…
According to Simmel, if an individual spends most of his/her time in the metropolis, he/she develops a blasé attitude, which protects him/her from the complicated and overwhelmed life of the metropolis. A blasé attitude is described as an indifference towards distinctions between things. Furthermore, the individual who is used to the life in the metropolis also carries an independent and autonomous attitude. In the metropolis, the population is always growing and most of the time there are changes in the surroundings (construction of new buildings), in contrast with the urban community. According to Simmel, individuals living in rural communities are not exposed to the same overstimulation as people living in the metropolis because people living in the rural communities do not face the same changes on their surroundings as people living in the