Notes on interaction and socialization in Simmel: a reflection on education and intolerance

Abstract

Throughout the last years of his life, Georg Simmel taught at the University of Strasbourg, where he was also responsible for giving lectures on pedagogy to future graduates, the Lectures on Schulpädagogik. Although the theme of pedagogy is not among their theoretical interests, which were more oriented towards interactions and forms of socialization, what emerges from the discussions surrounding Simmel's lectures is the relationship they have with the processes of interaction and socialization. For him, education (Bildung) cannot do without these two processes, under penalty of not being fully realized. In turn, the interaction process presupposes the differentiation between individuals in the same circle. Differences are the fuel that makes interactions possible, and therefore socialization and the education (Bildung). When understanding training as a socialization process, and differentiation as a basic element of all this dynamic, this article discusses the need to maintain the diversity of ideas and differences in teaching environments, especially at a time when the practice of intolerance to diversity and plurality of ideas invades a diversity of environments, including those dedicated to teaching and reflection.