Culture requires routing one’s perfection through external objects and spheres
Evidence
For culture exists only if man draws into his development something that is external to him. Cultivation is certainly a state of the soul, but one that is reached only by means of the use of purposely created objects. This externality and objectivity is not to be understood only in a spatial sense. The forms of comportment, the refinement of taste expressed in judgments, the education of moral tact which make an individual a delightful member of society—they are all cultural formations in which the perfection of the individual is routed through real and ideal spheres outside of the self. The perfection does not remain a purely immanent process, but is consummated in a unique adjustment and teleological interweaving of subject and object. … Thus we comprehend why very inner-oriented persons, who shun every detour of the soul into the surrounding world in the course of seeking their own perfection, can feel hatred for culture. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 555
Categorization
- DEFINE: Posits externality and objectivity as the defining trait of culture proper.
- XREF: Foreshadows Simmel’s later work on objective vs. subjective culture and the tragedy of culture — the soul returns to itself via objects that come to dominate it. — connects to: Renaissance culture paired perfected individuality with transcendence of local milieus. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 661; Culture is accumulated productive force transmitted through language and labor; Philosophy and art hold objects at greater distance than science does — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 80 (+7 more)
- QUESTION: Worth tracing how this externality criterion connects to urban blasé attitude: the metropolis forces maximal detour through objective culture.
Related
- Interiorizing culture requires devouring it as inorganic nature (similarity 0.80)
- Individual mental distinctiveness emerges only from contact with objective culture. (similarity 0.79)
- Objective and subjective culture are distinct measurable phenomena (similarity 0.79)
- Individuality is produced by entering culture, not given at birth (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Renaissance culture paired perfected individuality with transcendence of local milieus.
#exemplifies(0.60) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 661 - Culture is accumulated productive force transmitted through language and labor
#expands(0.50)