Social generalization, though distorting, is what makes social relations possible

Evidence

Man distorts the picture of another. He both detracts and supplements, since generalization is always both less and more than individuality is. The distortions derive from all these a priori, operative categories: from the individual’s type as man, from the idea of his perfection, and from the general society to which he belongs. Beyond all of these, there is, as a heuristic principle of knowledge, the idea of his real, unconditionally individual nature. It seems as if only the apprehension of this nature could furnish the basis for an entirely correct relation to him. But the very alterations and new formations which preclude this ideal knowledge of him are, actually, the conditions which make possible the sort of relations we call social. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 177

Categorization

• XREF: Feeds the essay’s claim that civil inattention is the price of urban sociability — the misrecognition that enables coexistence. — connects to: Sociability’s democratic reciprocity fails across different social classes — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 377; Social forms must be abstracted from many historical instances — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 60; People inevitably perceive others through generalization because full individual knowledge is impossible — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 173 (+4 more)

Related

• People inevitably perceive others through generalization because full individual knowledge is impossible (similarity 0.83)
• Individual motives become social only through forms of mutual interaction (similarity 0.82)
• Every person is perceived as both unique individual and general type (similarity 0.82)
• Society is a concrete generality neither reducible to individuals nor abstract (similarity 0.81)
• Human essence is the ensemble of social relations, not an individual abstraction (similarity 0.81)
• Sociability’s democratic reciprocity fails across different social classes (similarity 0.81)
• The individual’s inner mental relations mirror social relations among persons (similarity 0.81)
• Social forms must be abstracted from many historical instances (similarity 0.80)
• Human sociality is one possibility among several, not the only lens on experience (similarity 0.80)
• A science of society must study only forms of interaction (similarity 0.79)
• Sociology’s proper object is the forms relating two or more individuals (similarity 0.79)
• Simmel advanced technical sociology mainly as a byproduct of metaphysical concerns (similarity 0.79)
• Sociology treats psychological processes only as carriers of social forms (similarity 0.79)
• Human life must be understood under both individual and social attributes at once (similarity 0.79)
• Social orders integrate at the level of attributed motives (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Individual motives become social only through forms of mutual interaction #expands (0.60) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 194