The philosophy of money

Geogre Simmel

Routledge Chapman & Hall, 2004 - Social Science - 538 pages

'I have lost interest ... in all that I have written prior to The Philosophy of Money. This one is really my book, the others appear to me colourless and seem as if they could have been written by anyone else.' - Georg Simmel to Heinrich Rickert (1904)

In The Philosophy of Money, Simmel provides us with a remarkably wide-ranging discussion of the social, psychological and philosophical aspects of the money economy, full of brilliant insights into the forms that social relationships take. He analyzes the relationships of money to exchange, the human personality, the position of women, individual freedom and many other areas of human existence. Later he provides us with an account of the consequences of the modern money economy and the division of labour, which examines the processes of alienation and reification in work, urban life and elsewhere. Perhaps, more than any of his other sociological works, The Philosophy of Money gives us an example of his comprehensive analysis of the interrelationships between the most diverse and seemingly connected social phenomena.

This revised edition of the translation by Tom Bottomore and David Frisby, includes a new Preface by David Frisby.

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Review: The Philosophy of Money

User Review  - Kerveros - Goodreads

Although it has been written more than 100 years ago, the Philosophy of Money is a brilliant work. No matter whether somebody agrees or not with the content it as an exceptional effort to combine ...

Review: The Philosophy of Money

User Review  - Conrad - Goodreads

I'd give a kidney for this book if anyone would take it. Why, oh why does it have to retail at $180? Is this some sick joke?

About the author

Georg Simmel, a German sociologist, was a brilliant scholar who wrote about many aspects of human existence but never developed a systematic theory. He lectured at Berlin University for many years but was never given a permanent position because of his Jewish origins, his nonprofessorial brilliance, and what some took to be his destructive intellectual attitude. He is remembered in the United States for a number of insightful essays on such topics as the social role of the stranger and the nature of group affiliation. His book on conflict formed the basis of Lewis A. Coser's The Functions of Social Conflict, one of the classics of American sociology.

David Frisby is Reader in Sociology at Glasgow University.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The philosophy of money
• Author: Geogre Simmel
• Editor: David Frisby
• Translated by: David Frisby
• Edition: 3, revised
• Publisher: Routledge Chapman & Hall, 2004
• ISBN: 0415341728, 9780415341721
• Length: 538 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Economics / General; Business & Economics / Money & Monetary Policy; Philosophy / General; Social Science / Sociology / General