The Two Kings of Modernity: Science and Religion in Simmel's Metaphysics of Value
Georg Simmel’s tantalising suggestion that that in each age there exists a ‘regal notion’, a secret ‘conceptual king’, opens up an important issue in contemporary social epistemology: the question of how we should conceive of ‘the metaphysics of the social’. It suggests that within every weltanscha...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Mimesis Edizioni, Milano
2018-02-01
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| Series: | Im@go. A Journal of the Social Imaginary |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://cab.unime.it/journals/index.php/IMAGO/article/view/1795 |
| _version_ | 1819027677392142336 |
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| author | Neil Turnbull |
| author_facet | Neil Turnbull |
| author_sort | Neil Turnbull |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Georg Simmel’s tantalising suggestion that that in each age there exists a ‘regal notion’, a secret ‘conceptual king’, opens up an important issue in contemporary social epistemology: the question of how we should conceive of ‘the metaphysics of the social’. It suggests that within every weltanschauung there exists an adhesive field, a force of conceptual gravitation, capable of binding the fragments of historical being together into the wider significance of a world. In this scheme, it is this force, this ‘idea-influence’, that is ‘the secret king’. However, it is important to speculate as to this king’s name, constitution and powers. What seems clear in this regard is that in its regal status, contra Foucault, this centripetal notion cannot be reduced to the dimension of governmental discipline and control, as it exists in a quite different relationship to power, at least as power has been conceived in the social sciences. In this paper, I will suggest that the key to understanding the dynamics of the contemporary era in particular resides in understanding the tension between the king – understood as what intellectually reigns - and that which merely governs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T05:46:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ec4554cf65924f83aede0caaa01541b8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2281-8138 2281-8138 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T05:46:16Z |
| publishDate | 2018-02-01 |
| publisher | Mimesis Edizioni, Milano |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Im@go. A Journal of the Social Imaginary |
| spelling | doaj.art-ec4554cf65924f83aede0caaa01541b82022-12-21T19:14:08ZengMimesis Edizioni, MilanoIm@go. A Journal of the Social Imaginary2281-81382281-81382018-02-0101021321414The Two Kings of Modernity: Science and Religion in Simmel's Metaphysics of ValueNeil Turnbull0<em>School of Arts and Humanities</em><br /><em>Nottingham Trent University</em>Georg Simmel’s tantalising suggestion that that in each age there exists a ‘regal notion’, a secret ‘conceptual king’, opens up an important issue in contemporary social epistemology: the question of how we should conceive of ‘the metaphysics of the social’. It suggests that within every weltanschauung there exists an adhesive field, a force of conceptual gravitation, capable of binding the fragments of historical being together into the wider significance of a world. In this scheme, it is this force, this ‘idea-influence’, that is ‘the secret king’. However, it is important to speculate as to this king’s name, constitution and powers. What seems clear in this regard is that in its regal status, contra Foucault, this centripetal notion cannot be reduced to the dimension of governmental discipline and control, as it exists in a quite different relationship to power, at least as power has been conceived in the social sciences. In this paper, I will suggest that the key to understanding the dynamics of the contemporary era in particular resides in understanding the tension between the king – understood as what intellectually reigns - and that which merely governs.http://cab.unime.it/journals/index.php/IMAGO/article/view/1795VitalismMetaphysicsGovernmentalityWorldhoodPositivismScienceKingship |
| spellingShingle | Neil Turnbull The Two Kings of Modernity: Science and Religion in Simmel's Metaphysics of Value Im@go. A Journal of the Social Imaginary Vitalism Metaphysics Governmentality Worldhood Positivism Science Kingship |
| title | The Two Kings of Modernity: Science and Religion in Simmel's Metaphysics of Value |
| title_full | The Two Kings of Modernity: Science and Religion in Simmel's Metaphysics of Value |
| title_fullStr | The Two Kings of Modernity: Science and Religion in Simmel's Metaphysics of Value |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Two Kings of Modernity: Science and Religion in Simmel's Metaphysics of Value |
| title_short | The Two Kings of Modernity: Science and Religion in Simmel's Metaphysics of Value |
| title_sort | two kings of modernity science and religion in simmel s metaphysics of value |
| topic | Vitalism Metaphysics Governmentality Worldhood Positivism Science Kingship |
| url | http://cab.unime.it/journals/index.php/IMAGO/article/view/1795 |
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