Treating another as a mere means abolishes sociation itself
Evidence
It thus appears that the moral maxim never to use a man as a mere means is actually the formula of every sociation. Where the significance of the one party sinks so low that its effect no longer enters the relationship with the other, there is as little ground for speaking of sociation as there is in the case of the carpenter and his bench. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 322
Categorization
- XREF: Kant’s categorical-imperative formula given a sociological reading — relevant to Lofland’s claim that city dwellers categorize strangers as usable means, which collapses genuine social ties. — connects to: Ubuntu personhood defines the self only through communal relation — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 4252; Denying shared humanity creates non-relation rather than strangeness within a group — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 400; Being subordinate to a thing reduces a person psychologically to a thing (+2 more)
Related
- Being subordinate to a thing reduces a person psychologically to a thing (similarity 0.80)
Broader Connections
- Ubuntu personhood defines the self only through communal relation
#complicates(0.60) — , The Rod and the Child, 4252 - Denying shared humanity creates non-relation rather than strangeness within a group
#exemplifies(0.55) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 400