Conflict and The Web of Group

Georg Simmel's book is really more of a series of essays dealing with the way people deal with conflict and organization under the rubric of society. For Simmel, conflict is the apotheosis of human relations, particularly when he suggest that there is an "uncanny ease with which hostility can be suggested" (p. 30). In other words, the drive toward hostility and conflict supports the desire for human power in both the macro and micro levels of societal interaction. Hostility and conflict, of course, are carried out in many different ways in the myriad of interpersonal relationships that make up a society. As civilization becomes more advanced, with rules and laws for a greater number of activities, conflict often takes on various legalism that serve to legitimize the activity over a series of seemingly endless agendas (pp. 357).

This is not to suggest that conflict and competition are in all cases pejorative terms. In fact, Simmel believes that conflict compels individual members of society to come to terms with both their inability to adequately socialize and a need to establish varying degrees of primacy (pp. 613). In the same way, societal customs serve to establish sets of normative behaviors by which conflict can take place. This serves the dual purpose of propelling people into new and challenging situations and protecting others against unneeded attack (pp.

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t individuals, one might ask if it is fair to establish "normative" values for the term? However, for the most part, Simmel's assumptions are confined to areas of emotional commonality. In this, he is completely justified, since it would be almost impossible to develop a cogent theory without some reference to areas of common behavior. Subjectivity, then, becomes a strength rather than a weakness for Simmel (p. 59). Simmel's theoretical constructs are likewise easily transferred into a broad range of events and activities. This is particularly apparent in his discussion of the primary nature of hostility. One underlying assumption that transcends almost every aspect of the book is that "natural hostility as a form or basis of human relations appears at least side by side with their other basis, sympathy" (p. 28). Within the myriad of complexities in human relationships, Simmel's contributions seem to tend more toward allinclusiveness than any sort of limited or mutual exclusivity. Since most humans engage in regular social activity, Simmel's views gain even more credibility when built upon the macrocosm of society (p. 47). The book is also rife with sensible examples that remove the theory from the intellectual and place
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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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