A New Reception

Any attempt to suggest that a new look at Simmel's sociological work and its reception is called for must re-examine Simmel's social theory in relation to his contemporaries as well as in relation to more recent developments in sociology. A reassessment of Simmel's work in the light of that of his contemporaries and near-contemporaries might also have to challenge the Holy Trinity of Marx, Weber and Durkheim that dominates so many discussions of classical sociology. Though Simmel himself was also preoccupied with the figure three (and not merely in his discussion of triads), we need not remain captivated by only three giants and a whole range of pygmies. Is it not time that the balance between the two groups be questioned? In what follows, some brief indications of possible lines of reassessment are sketched out in the hope that this may take place in the future.