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The Sociology of Sociability

Simmel’s Method

• Not a coherent, closed system
• Non-normative (does not have goals)
• Ever-changing
• Non-judgmental

Ideas

• What is sociability?
  • Social interaction that’s not about instrumental relations, getting something you want
  • Satisfaction in pure association
  • Relies on good form: the forms (the etiquette, gestures, speeches, body language) of social interaction as its own end
• Analogous to good art and to playing
• Free from friction or any real effects
• Formalist
  • The content doesn’t matter
  • Ie, flirting is the play form of sex: you don’t expect to go home with her; you’re just having fun
• Anti-egotistical, anti-individual
  • You subsume any need you have for the sake of the play
  • About pure relation
  • You forget your personal attributes
• Why is it so cool?
  • Creates the ideal sociological world
    • Your joy relies on the enjoyment of the people around you
  • Everyone is happy, no one disappointed
  • Modern life has so many demands that we need this relief
    • “Released from life but have it still”
  • Distance lets you perceive its meaning better, more as a part of a social whole

Quotes