Publication Details
Money as the Symbol of Modern Culture
Abstract
The paper is based on the analysis of G. Simmel's book The Philosophy of Money (1900). It focuses on Simmel's interpretation of economical and macrosociological issues based on the philosophical conception of money, which symbolizes the whole value world of modern culture. It sheds light first of all on Simmel's aesthetical perspective and his apllying aestheitical cathegories of detachment and analogy to show the parallels between the economical and spiritual spheres, especially between the development of monetary economy and the tendency to individualization, intellectualization, and to opposing the objective and the subjective in modern culture. In conclusion it shows how Simmel's fundamental ideas and attitudes combine in his reconstruction of modern way of life.