Nach Simmel, mit Simmel

Book launch of Les enfants de Simmel with the editor Denis Thouard and contributors to the volume, moderator: Moritz Neuffer

The event is being organized in collaboration with the Centre Marc Bloch.

The works of Georg Simmel (1858–1918) mark the beginning of sociological and philosophical modernity. Today, he is known for his philosophy of money, his reflections on the concept of inheritance and values, and his essays on fashion and the intellectual life of his time. Less well known, however, are his immediate legacy and the paths of his reception. While Simmel’s lectures during his time as a private lecturer in Berlin and as a professor in Strasbourg were popular, he did not establish a school of thought. Nonetheless, his influence can be found not only among young intellectuals of his time, such as Walter Benjamin, Gertrud Kantorowicz, Georg Lukács, and Margarete Susman, but also in the sociology and art criticism of Soviet Russia, the US, and many other countries.

Together with contributors to the volume Les enfants de Georg Simmel (les éditions Circé 2024, ed. by Denis Thouard), the event will explore the resonances of Simmel’s work, the cycles of its reception, and the relevance of his perspectives on intellectual and social life today.

Panelists:

• Anne Eusterschulte (FU Berlin)
• Sarah Kiani (Université de Neuchâtel)
• Hans-Peter Müller (HU Berlin)
• Denis Thouard (Centre Marc Bloch)

The admission is free, no registration required.

Fig. above: Georg Simmel, 1914, © Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz, edited by Nicola Chodan