Ferdinand Tönnies

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Prof. Dr. phil. Ferdinand Tönnies, the founder of German sociology, taught as a professor at the University of Kiel before and after the First World War.[1]

Ferdinand Tönnies (b. 26 July 1855 Farm "Die Riep" near Kirchspiel Oldenswort, Landschaft Eiderstedt, Duchy of Schleswig, Denmark; d. 9 April 1936 in Kiel, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, German Reich) was an ethnic German sociologist and philosopher. He was a major contributor to sociological theory, best known for his theory on Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. He co-founded the German Society for Sociology, of which he was president from 1909 to 1933. He had certain leftist views, at least later in his life, and was critical of both Imperial Germany and later the NSDAP, and eventually joined the socialist/Marxist Social Democratic Party of Germany, causing various occupational difficulties in both Imperial Germany and National Socialist Germany.

Life

Ferdinand Tönnies was born into a wealthy farmer's family in North Frisia, Schleswig (today Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Holstein), then under Danish rule. He studied at the universities of Jena, Bonn, Leipzig, Berlin, and Tübingen. He received a doctorate in Tübingen in 1877 (with a Latin thesis on the ancient Siwa Oasis).

In the summer semester of 1872, he initially went to Strasbourg, but was put off by student life there and moved to Jena a few weeks later. There he joined the Arminia fraternity (Burschenschaft) at the Burgkeller, where he became a Fux, like several close and distant relatives in previous years. He studied Latin grammar and the philosophy of history and indulged in fraternity life. Tönnies later associated two lasting injuries with his time in Jena: In his third semester of study, he sustained a dueling scar (Schmiss). The following year, he completed his military service, also in Jena. During this time, he took a leave of absence for the Arminia winter commers, where he suffered an injury to the back of the head while earning the "Grand Order of the Kanne." This injury caused him lifelong headaches and led him to adopt a more cautious lifestyle from then on. He was critical of calls to abolish or modernize the Mensur and fraternity life, as he wrote in a pamphlet published under a pseudonym during this period. After several student interludes in Leipzig, Bonn, Berlin, and Kiel, he received his doctorate in Tübingen in June 1877. His 44-page dissertation, written in Latin, was entitled "De Jove Ammone quaestionum specimen" and received the grade "good."[2]

Four years later he became a private lecturer at the University of Kiel. Because he had sympathized with the Hamburg dockers' strike of 1896, the conservative Prussian government considered him to be a social democrat, and Tönnies was not called to a professorial chair until 1913. He held this post at the University of Kiel for only three years. He returned to the university as a professor emeritus in 1921 and taught until 1933 when he was ousted by the National Socialists, due to his earlier publications that criticized them.

Tönnies, the first German sociologist proper, published over 900 works and contributed to many areas of sociology and philosophy. Many of his writings on sociological theories — including Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (1887) — furthered pure sociology. He coined the metaphysical term Voluntarism. Tönnies also contributed to the study of social change, particularly on public opinion, customs and technology, crime, and suicide. He also had a vivid interest in methodology, especially statistics, and sociological research, inventing his own technique of statistical association.

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

Main article: Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft

Tönnies distinguished between two types of social groupings. Gemeinschaft — often translated as community (or left untranslated)— refers to groupings based on feelings of togetherness and on mutual bonds, which are felt as a goal to be kept up, their members being means for this goal. Gesellschaft — often translated as society — on the other hand, refers to groups that are sustained by it being instrumental for their members' individual aims and goals.

Gemeinschaft may be exemplified historically by a family or a neighborhood in a pre-modern (rural) society; Gesellschaft by a joint-stock company or a state in a modern society, i.e. the society when Tönnies lived. Gesellschaft relationships arose in an urban and capitalist setting, characterized by individualism and impersonal monetary connections between people. Social ties were often instrumental and superficial, with self-interest and exploitation increasingly the norm. Examples are corporations, states, or voluntary associations.

His distinction between social groupings is based on the assumption that there are only two basic forms of an actor's will, to approve of other men. (For Tönnies, such an approval is by no means self-evident, he is quite influenced by Thomas Hobbes). Following his "essential will" ("Wesenwille"), an actor will see himself as a means to serve the goals of social grouping; very often it is an underlying, subconscious force. Groupings formed around an essential will are called a Gemeinschaft. The other will is the "arbitrary will" ("Kürwille"): An actor sees a social grouping as a means to further his individual goals; so it is purposive and future-oriented. Groupings around the latter are called Gesellschaft. Whereas the membership in a Gemeinschaft is self-fulfilling, a Gesellschaft is instrumental for its members. In pure sociology — theoretically —, these two normal types of will are to be strictly separated; in applied sociology — empirically — they are always mixed.

Tönnies’ distinction between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, like others between tradition and modernity, has been criticized for over-generalizing differences between societies, and implying that all societies were following a similar evolutionary path, which he has never proclaimed.

The equilibrium in Gemeinschaft is achieved through morals, conformism, and exclusion - social control - while Gesellschaft keeps its equilibrium through police, laws, tribunals and prisons. Amish, Hassidic communities are examples of Gemeinschaft, while states are types of Gesellschaft. Rules in Gemeinschaft are implicit, while Gesellschaft has explicit rules (written laws).

Published works

  • 1877: De Jove Ammone quaestionum specimen (dissertation)
  • 1887: Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft, Leipzig: Fues's Verlag, 2nd ed. 1912, 8th edition, Leipzig: Buske, 1935 (reprint 2005, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft); his basic and never essentially changed study of social man; translated in 1957 as "Community and Society", ISBN 0887387500
  • 1896: Hobbes. Leben und Lehre, Stuttgart: Frommann, 1896, 3rd edn 1925; a philosophical study that reveals his indebtedness to Hobbes, many of whose writings he has edited
  • 1897: Der Nietzsche-Kultus, Leipzig: Reisland
  • 1905: “The Present Problems of Social Structure”, in: American Journal of Sociology, 10(5), p. 569–588 (newly edited, with annotations, in: Ferdinand Tönnies Gesamtausgabe, tom. 7, Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter 2009, p. 269-285)
  • 1906: Philosophische Terminologie in psychologischer Ansicht, Leipzig: Thomas
  • 1907: Die Entwicklung der sozialen Frage, Leipzig: Göschen
  • 1909: Die Sitte, Frankfurt on Main: Rütten & Loening
  • 1915: Warlike England as seen by herself, New York: Dillingham [1]
  • 1917: Der englische Staat und der deutsche Staat, Berlin: Curius; pioneering political sociology
  • 1921: Marx. Leben und Lehre, Jena: Lichtenstein
  • 1922: Kritik der öffentlichen Meinung, Berlin: Springer; 2nd ed. 2003, Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter (Ferdinand Tönnies Gesamtausgabe, tom. 14); translated as On Public Opinion. Applied sociology revealing Tönnies' thorough scholarship and his commitment as an analyst and critic of modern public opinion
  • 1924, 1926, and 1929: Soziologische Studien und Kritiken, 3 vols, Jena: Fischer, a collection in three volumes of those papers he considered most relevant
  • 1926: Fortschritt und soziale Entwicklung, Karlsruhe: Braun
  • 1927: Der Selbstmord in Schleswig-Holstein, Breslau: Hirt
  • 1931: Einführung in die Soziologie, Stuttgart: Enke. His fully elaborated introduction into sociology as a social science
  • 1935: Geist der Neuzeit, Leipzig: Buske; 2nd ed. 1998 (in: Ferdinand Tönnies Gesamtausgabe, tom. 22); a study in applied sociology, analysing the transformation from European Middle Ages to modern times
  • 1998–: Tönnies' Complete Works (Ferdinand Tönnies Gesamtausgabe), 24 vols., critically edited by Lars Clausen, Alexander Deichsel, Cornelius Bickel, Rolf Fechner (until 2006), Carsten Schlüter-Knauer, and Uwe Carstens (2006– ), Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter 1998– )
  • 2008: Soziologische Schriften 1891-1905, ed. Rolf Fechner, Munich/Vienna: Profil
  • 2009: Schriften und Rezensionen zur Anthropologie, ed. Rolf Fechner, Munich/Vienna: Profil
  • 2009: Schriften zu Friedrich von Schiller, ed. Rolf Fechner, Munich/Vienna: Profil
  • 2010: Schriften und Rezensionen zur Religion, ed. Rolf Fechner, Profil, Munich/Vienna: Profil
  • 2010: Geist der Neuzeit, ed. Rolf Fechner, Profil-Verlag, Munich/Vienna: Profil
  • 2010: Schriften zur Staatswissenschaft, ed. Rolf Fechner, Profil, Munich/Vienna: Profil
  • 2011: Schriften zum Hamburger Hafenarbeiterstreik, ed. Rolf Fechner, Munich/Vienna: Profl

Quotes from Tonnies

  • "During this development, the original qualities of community (Gemeinschaft) may be lost because there takes place a continued change in the original basis upon which living together rests. This change reaches its consummation in what is frequently designated as individualism. Through this development social life in and of itself is not diminished, but social life of the community (Gemeinschaft) is impaired and a new phenomenon develops out of the needs, interests, desires and decisions of persons who previously worked cooperatively together and area acting and dealing with one another. This new phenomenon, the 'capitalistic society,' increases in power and gradually attains the ascendancy. Tending as it does to be cosmopolitan and unlimited in size, it is the most distinct form of the many phenomena represented by the sociological concept of the society (Gesellschaft)... As a totality of individuals and families it is essentially a collective of economic character composed primarily of those who partake in that wealth which, as land and capital, represents the necessary means to the production of goods of all kinds." (Community and Society)
  • "The relationship itself, and also the resulting association, is conceived of either as real and organic life—this is the essential characteristic of the community (Gemeinschaft); or as imaginary and mechanical structure—this is the concept of society (Gesellschaft)." (Community and Society)
  • "Community (Gemeinschaft) should be understood as a living organism, society (Gesellschaft) as a mechanical aggregate and artifact." (Community and Society)
  • "I can call all kinds of association in which natural will predominate, community (Gemeinschaft), all those which are formed and fundamentally conditioned by rational will, society (Gesellschaft). Thus, these concepts signify the model qualities of the essence and the tendencies of being bound together. Thus, both names are in the present context stripped of their connotation as designating social entities or groups, or even collective or artificial persons; the essence of both community (Gemeinschaft) and society (Gesellschaft) is found interwoven in all kinds of associations." (Community and Society)
  • "Wherever urban culture flourishes, 'Society' (Gesellschaft) also appears as its indispensable medium. Country people know little of it." (Community and Society)
  • "Everyone who praises rural life has pointed to the fact that people there have a stronger and livelier sense of Community (Gemeinschaft). Community (Gemeinschaft) means genuine, enduring life together, whereas Society (Gesellschaft) is a transient and superficial thing." (Community and Society)
  • "All kinds of social co-existence that are familiar, comfortable, and exclusive are to be understood as belonging to community (Gemeinschaft). Society (Gesellschaft) means life in the public sphere, in the outside world. In community (Gemeinschaft) we are united from the moment of our birth with our own folk for better or worse. We go out into society (Gesellschaft) as if into a foreign land. A young man is warned about mixing with bad society: but 'bad community' makes no sense in our language." (Community and Society)
  • "The theory of society (Gesellschaft) deals with the artificial construction of an aggregate of human beings which superficially resembles the community (Gemeinschaft) insofar as the individuals live and dwell together peacefully. However, in community (Gemeinschaft) they remain essentially united in spite of all separating factors, whereas in society (Gesellschaft) they are essentially separated in spite of all uniting factors." (Community and Society)
  • "All trustful, intimate and exclusive life together (we find) is understood as life in community (Gemeinschaft). Society (Gesellschaft) is the public sphere, the world. One is bound to community with one’s ilk from birth, with all the benefits and drawbacks. One goes into society (Gesellschaft) as though one is going abroad." (Community and Society)
  • “[The merchant is] the typical educated man: without a home, a traveller, familiar with foreign customs and arts, lacking in love and piety for those of any particular country, capable of speaking several languages, glib and two-tongued, cunning, accommodating while keeping a close eye on his aims, he darts to and fro in quick slick movements, changing his character and attitudes (beliefs or opinions) like a shirt, transporting things over the borders of areas, a mixer and equaliser, using the old and the new to his advantage – he thus is a stark contrast to the farmer stuck to his clod and the solid citizen exercising his craft.” (Community and Society)
  • "In the Middle Ages there was unity, now there is atomization: then the hierarchy of authority was solicitous paternalism, now it is compulsory exploitation; then there was relative peace, now wars are wholesale slaughter; then there were sympathetic relationships amongst kinsfolk and old acquaintances, now there are strangers and aliens everywhere; then society was chiefly made up of home- and land-loving peasants, now the attitude of the businessman prevails; the man’s simple needs were met by home production and barter, now we have world trade and capitalistic production; then there was permanency of abode, now great mobility; then there were folk arts, music and handicrafts, now there is science — and the scientific method applied, as in the case of the cool calculations of the businessman, leads to the point of view which deprives one’s fellow men and one’s society of their personality, leaving only a framework of dead symbols and generalizations." (Geist der Neuzeit)
  • "Today I feel the monstrous ugliness and the terrible poverty of today’s urban existence [großstädtischen Lebens] and am often taken by disgust and nausea, and deep sadness." (Die Philosophie der Gegenwart in Selbstdarstellungen)

Works about Tonnies

  • Arthur Mitzman, "Tönnies and German Society, 1887-1914: From Cultural Pessimism to Celebration of the Volksgemeinschaft," Journal of the History of Ideas , Vol. 32, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1971), pp. 507-524. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2708974>.

External links

Encyclopedias

References

  1. ↑ Ferdinand Tönnies
  2. ↑ Burschenschafter Ferdinand Tönnies (1855–1936)
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