The Metropolis and Mental Life and Other Readings

After reading about certain topics such as the mental life and the city etc. it was interesting to learn about Simmel's perspective on this topic. Simmel stated, "The deepest problems of modern life flow from the attmpt of the individual to maintain the independence and individuality of his eistence against the sovereign powers of society, against the weght of the historical heritage and the external culture and technique of life." We also talked about the city life and how different the mental state is between one from the city and one from suburbia.
Simmels ways can be compared with other familiar concepts in sociology from theorists before him. "Simmel combines ideas from all of the three major classical writers and was influenced by Hegel and Kant. When Simmel discusses social structures, the city, money, and modern society, his analysis has some similarities to the analyses of Durkheim (problem of individual and society), Weber (effects of rationalization), and Marx (alienation). Simmel considered society to be an association of free individuals, and said that it could not be studied in the same way as the physical world, i.e. sociology is more than the discovery of natural laws that govern human interaction" (http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/simmel.htm).

Mumford wrote about what he thought the city was in his document, "The City" in 1869. It seems to be a valid point in his writing even though the document was written in 1869. The city, as one finds it in history, is the point of maximum concentration for the power and culture of a community. "The city, as one finds it in history, is the point of maximum concentration for the power and culture of a community" (Mumford). I could see some comparisons between this document compared to Webers' "The City" and Mumford's document called "What is a city?"

Overall, these documents show similar comparisons when describing the city and its characteristics. The similar statements between each of the sociologists show the comparisons in thier writings and their ideas of what the city is and the way it has its effect on the people in that area.