Dialectical Approach
Simmel wrote extensively on the dynamic inter-connectedness and the conflict between individuals, individuals and society, social groups, and between elements of culture. Simmel’s dialectical approach may be analyzed in terms of three main emphases:
The Principle of Dualism:
This is based on the assumption that the subsistence of any aspect of human life depends on the co-existence of diametrically opposed elements. According to Simmel, man's position in the world is defined by the fact that in every dimension of his being and behavior and also finds himself at every moment between two boundaries. This appears as the formal structure of our existence, manifesting itself in continually new content in the various provinces, activities, and destinies of human life. The content and value of each hour stand between a higher and a lower, every thought between a wiser and a more foolish, every possession between a more extended and a more limited, every deed between a greater and a lesser measure of meaning, and morality.
Unlike Comte, Simmel could not conceive of a Golden society free from tensions, clashes, and feudalism; a conflict-free society is impossible. Conflict and consensus, order and disorder, war and peace constitute a part of the eternal debate of social life. They are like two sides of the same reality, both natural and inevitable.
Forms of Interaction:
Simmel applies the principle of dualism to the relationship between individual and society and various forms of sociation. He insisted that “sociation” always involved harmony and conflict, attraction and repulsion, love and hatred. All human relationship experiences this dialectical tension, this intrinsic ambivalence. No empirically demonstrable group of individuals is entirely harmonious and devoid of tension and conflict. He, therefore, made a point of distinguishing between social appearances, relationships as they appear to others outside the group, and social realities, relationships as they exist within the interaction unit.
Positive Functions of Conflict:
Simmel demonstrated that social relationships, often held to be obvious, were frequently incorrect, as his discussions of the mutuality of superior-subordinate ties, for instance, demonstrated. And also illustrated the error in the commonly held belief that conflict between individuals or within a group is a negative process destructive of social relationships and group unity.
For example, his analysis of conflict as a form of sociation showed how it might promote social unity and disunity. He contended that all social relationships have both positive and negative elements, attraction and repulsion, harmony and disorder.
Rejecting the notion that conflict is a temporary phase which is eventually transformed into a unity, Simmel insisted that peace and conflict are reciprocally intertwined in historical reality. Neither peace nor conflict is the ultimate manifestation of historical reality; they exist as equal. Just as conflict is transformed into peace, it is equally possible for peace to be transformed into conflict.
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