Sociology’s proper object is the forms relating two or more individuals

Evidence

In chapter 2 the referent of the forms shifts from the realm of knowledge to that of being. In this place Simmel asks what forms of orientation—what cognitive sets, as it were—an individual must have in order to be able to relate to others. In chapter 3 the forms in question are patterns which relate two or more individuals. It is these forms which Simmel considers to be the proper object of study for the discipline of sociology. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 154

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Any social group can act as individual or aggregate depending on its relational frame. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 631; Social forms can be classified by the interpersonal distances they create — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 81; Social relations can be analyzed purely as formal configurations — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 208 (+5 more)

Related

• Any social group can act as individual or aggregate depending on its relational frame. (similarity 0.92)
• Social relations can be analyzed purely as formal configurations (similarity 0.90)
• Sociology studies abstract forms of interaction as geometry studies spatial forms (similarity 0.88)
• Sociology relates to social sciences as geometry relates to physics. (similarity 0.88)
• A science of society must study only forms of interaction (similarity 0.88)
• Sociology treats psychological processes only as carriers of social forms (similarity 0.87)
• The formal content distinction in sociology can only be illustrated, not yet defined (similarity 0.87)
• Society names both actual human networks and the abstract forms of sociality (similarity 0.85)
• Simmel advanced technical sociology mainly as a byproduct of metaphysical concerns (similarity 0.84)
• Sociology studies men only insofar as interaction forms and determines them as groups. (similarity 0.84)
• Individual motives become social only through forms of mutual interaction (similarity 0.83)
• Social relations crystallize into fixed external forms that cannot keep pace with inner life (similarity 0.82)
• Social relations are constituted through mediating processes (similarity 0.81)
• A set of individuals can be society to varying degrees. (similarity 0.81)
• Identical interaction forms recur across radically different social groups (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Culture names the forms, not the content, of social relationships #expands (0.85) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 882
• Social relations can be analyzed purely as formal configurations #expands (0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 208
• Social forms can be classified by the interpersonal distances they create #expands (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 81
• Identical interaction forms recur across radically different social groups #corroborates (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 198
• Society names both actual human networks and the abstract forms of sociality #expands (0.60) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 896
• Social formation elements articulate with each other in complex ways #expands (0.60)