SOURCE: "Georg Simmel: An Introduction," in Georg Simmel: The Conflict in Modern Culture and Other Essays, translated by K. Peter Etzkorn, Teachers College Press, 1968, pp. 1-8.

In the following essay, Etzkorn provides an overview of Simmel's work.

One test of the importance of ideas and contributions of eminent men is undoubtedly whether they are considered relevant by future generations. Georg Simmel's work, although it was produced over fifty years ago, is still considered of major relevance to sociological and philosophical inquiry.…

Simmel lived during a period of significant social and political change in Central Europe. The impact of technological developments made possible by the Industrial Revolution was increasingly changing the major modes of social life. Institutional structures were confronted with problems of adaptation. Frequent challenges were made to established modes of thought and novel ideas in response to social change. New and rapid modes of communication aided in...