Tragedia e conflitto della cultura. Intorno a due saggi di Simmel

In this paper, I revisit the framework presented by Jürgen Habermas in his influential 1983 essay Theorie und Praxis: Zur Kritik der Spätphilosophie von Georg Simmel, in which he divides Simmel’s distinctive contribution to the philosophy of culture into three phases: 1) the conclusion of The Philosophy of Money (1900), 2) Simmel’s later focus on the concept and tragedy of culture (1911), and 3) his final diagnosis of the “conflict of modern culture” (1918). While recognizing the theoretical continuity in Simmel’s project, Habermas nevertheless characterizes the “metaphysics of life” in Simmel’s later works as “doubtful.” In contrast, I argue that Simmel’s later position does not deserve such an uncharitable dismissal, and aim to emphasize the philosophical and critical value of his conclusions, precisely because of their aporetic nature.