How Is Society Possible?

Abstract

This paper questions the adequacy of Georg Simmel’s answer to the question, how is society possible? Treating his essay on the question as a contribution to his overall sociology, it argues that the “a prioris” he identifies add little to the general understanding of social forms, are neither necessary nor sufficient to make society possible as a coherent mental construct, and play at best a modest role in Simmel’s own analysis of forms. Taking a step beyond Simmel’s essay, the paper briefly suggests that, if a Simmelian “epistemological” grounding is to remain relevant to the broader interactionist tradition, conditions for the possibility of society as interaction order should include schemas pertaining to social Wechselwirkung.