Humanity functions as an organizing idea, not a concrete entity

Evidence

“Humanity” is, if you will, an “idea,” just like “nature,” perhaps also like “society.” It is a category under which individual phenomena can be observed without saying that what is designated thereby leads an isolated existence or is to be distilled as a special quality. We can, however, ask of every human condition, quality, or action: What does this mean as a stage of the development of humanity? What preconditions must the entire species have attained for this to be possible? What has humanity as a biological, ethical, and psychic type thereby won or lost in value? — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 215

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies Simmel’s anti-reification of collective concepts like ‘humanity’ and ‘society’ as Kantian-style regulative ideas.
• XREF: connects to: Internal uniformity and exclusivity of a group block universal humanity ties — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 604; Collectivities are networks of interaction, not substantive entities. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 130; Humanity’s viewpoint and society’s viewpoint remain in principle distinct — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 215 (+9 more)

Related

• Humanity’s viewpoint and society’s viewpoint remain in principle distinct (similarity 0.86)
• Society is a concrete generality neither reducible to individuals nor abstract (similarity 0.84)
• Human essence is the ensemble of social relations, not an individual abstraction (similarity 0.84)
• Society’s unity is self-produced by its members, unlike nature’s observer-made unity (similarity 0.82)
• Human sociality is one possibility among several, not the only lens on experience (similarity 0.81)
• Individual and society are methodological standpoints, not separable entities (similarity 0.81)
• Society presupposes a harmony between its structure and individual inner callings (similarity 0.81)
• Internal uniformity and exclusivity of a group block universal humanity ties (similarity 0.80)
• Society names both actual human networks and the abstract forms of sociality (similarity 0.80)
• Biology and abstract reason never united humans; concrete thought did (similarity 0.79)
• A set of individuals can be society to varying degrees. (similarity 0.79)
• Social formations form complex unities structured in dominance rather than expressive identities. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Humanity’s viewpoint and society’s viewpoint remain in principle distinct #expands (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 215
• Social unity is felt through concrete relations rather than abstract awareness #expands (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 169
• Society is a concrete generality neither reducible to individuals nor abstract #contradicts (0.65) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 274
• Society provides the categories of thought, not the content of taxonomies #expands (0.60)
• Society operates as a complex formation structured in dominance with relative institutional autonomy #qualifies (0.60)
• Social and cultural structures overdetermine our natural human constitution. #qualifies (0.55)
• Communitarian personhood defines identity through community rather than the Cartesian I #expands (0.55) — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 434