Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Ferdinand Julius Tönnies

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Ferdinand Julius Tönnies
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

(born July 26, 1855, near Oldenswort, Schleswig — died April 9, 1936, Kiel, Ger.) German sociologist. From 1881 he taught principally at the University of Kiel. In Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (1887; "Community and Society"), he explored the differences between the organic conception of society, or Gemeinschaft ("community," a social union based on traditional rules and a shared sense of solidarity), and the social-contract conception of society, or Gesellschaft ("society," a social union held together by rational self-interest). In practice, he argued, all societies show elements of both kinds of organization, because human conduct is neither wholly instinctive nor wholly reasoned.

For more information on Ferdinand Julius Tönnies, visit Britannica.com.

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more