No institution can fully reconcile social uniformity and individual differentiation.
Evidence
It becomes self-evident that there is no institution, no law, no estate of life, which can uniformly satisfy the full demands of the two opposing principles. The only realization of this condition possible for humanity finds expression in constantly changing approximation, in ever retracted attempts and ever revived hopes. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 710
Categorization
- XREF: Frames the essay’s tension: the blasé attitude and civil inattention are both partial, ever-retracted accommodations to the same duality. — connects to: True equality among people is impossible due to inescapable uniqueness — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 187; No single characterization of conviviality should define the politics of living with difference. — Farhan Samanani, Conviviality and its others: for a…, 81
Related
- True equality among people is impossible due to inescapable uniqueness (similarity 0.84)
- Equality must govern politics even though it is technically a fiction (similarity 0.84)
- Individual uniqueness as a value denies equality rather than grounds it (similarity 0.82)
- Individuality and universal equality historically arise as twin reactions to inequality (similarity 0.82)
- Equality achieved becomes the platform for further competition and surpassing (similarity 0.81)
- Individual diversity can be conceived as a division of labor among unique beings (similarity 0.81)
- Social institutions are peace treaties between imitation and individual differentiation. (similarity 0.81)
- No single characterization of conviviality should define the politics of living with difference. (similarity 0.80)
- Inclusive universal claims arise from within the particular (similarity 0.80)
- Liberated individuals turn from equality toward distinguishing themselves from others (similarity 0.80)
- Fewer, more general marriage forms allow more individual differentiation (similarity 0.79)
- Pretended sociable equality is art-like play, not a lie, until reality intrudes (similarity 0.79)
- Real social unities must be conceptually dissolved into dualities that never fully capture them (similarity 0.79)
- Modern equality makes ineradicable natural differences the basis of cruel group conflict (similarity 0.79)
- Individualism of equality and individualism of inequality both require large social circles. (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- True equality among people is impossible due to inescapable uniqueness
#corroborates(0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 187