Ferdinand Tönnies (; 26 July 1855 – 8 April 1936) was a German sociologist, economist, and philosopher. He was a significant contributor to

sociological theory A sociological theory is a that intends to consider, analyze, and/or explain objects of social reality from a sociological perspective,Macionis, John and Linda M. Gerber. 2010. ''Sociology'' (7th Canadian ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson ...

and field studies, best known for distinguishing between two types of

social group In the social sciences, a social group is defined as two or more people who interact with one another, share similar characteristics, and collectively have a sense of unity. Regardless, social groups come in a myriad of sizes and varieties. F ...

s, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft (community and society). He co-founded the German Sociological Association together with

Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...

and

Georg Simmel Georg Simmel (; ; 1 March 1858 – 26 September 1918) was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic. Simmel was influential in the field of sociology. Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach ...

and many other founders. He was president of the society from 1909 to 1933, after which he was ousted for having criticized the Nazis. Tönnies was regarded as the first proper German sociologist and published over 900 works, contributing to many areas of sociology and philosophy. Tönnies,

, and

are considered the founding fathers of classical German sociology. Though there has been a resurgence of interest in Weber and Simmel, Tönnies has not drawn as much attention.

Biography

Early life

Ferdinand Tönnies was born on 26 July 1855 on the Haubarg "De Reap", Oldenswort on the Eiderstedt Peninsula into a wealthy farmer's family in North Frisia, Duchy of Schleswig, then under Danish rule. Tönnies was the only sociologist of his generation who came from the countryside. He was the third child of church chief and farmer August Ferdinand Tönnies (1822–1883), and his wife Ida Frederica (born Mau, 1826–1915), came from a theological family from East Holstein. His father, of Frisian ancestry, was a successful farmer and cattle rancher, while his mother hailed from a line of Lutheran ministers. The two had seven children, four sons and three daughters. On the day he was born, Ferdinand Tönnies received the baptismal name of Ferdinand Julius and moved to Husum, on the North Sea, after his father retired in 1864.

Education and academic career

Tönnies enrolled at the University of Strasbourg after graduating from high school in 1872. He took the time to utilize his freedom to travel, exploring the academic fields of the Universities of Jena,

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

. At age 22, he received a doctorate in philology at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

in 1877 (with a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

thesis on the ancient Siwa Oasis). However, by this time, his main interests had switched to political philosophy and social issues. After completing postdoctoral work at the University of Berlin, he traveled to London to continue his studies on the seventeenth-century English political thinker Thomas Hobbes. Tönnies earned a Privatdozent in philosophy at the University of Kiel from 1909 to 1933 after submitting a draft of his major book, Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft, as his Habilitationsschrift in 1881. He held this post at the University of

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

for only three years. Because he sympathized with the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

dockers' strike of 1896, the conservative Prussian government considered him to be a social democrat, and Tönnies would not be called to a professorial chair until 1913. He returned to Kiel as a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

in 1921 where he took on a teaching position in sociology and taught until 1933 when he was ousted by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

, due to earlier publications in which he had criticized them and had endorsed the Social Democratic Party. Remaining in Kiel, he died three years later in isolation in his home in 1936.

Sociological contributions

Many of his writings on sociological theories furthered pure sociology, including ''and'' (1887). He coined the metaphysical term '' Voluntarism''. Tönnies also contributed to the study of

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Sustained at a larger scale, it may lead to social transformation or societal transformat ...

, particularly on

public opinion Public opinion, or popular opinion, is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. In the 21st century, public opinion is widely thought to be heavily ...

, customs and technology, crime, and suicide. He also had a vivid interest in methodology, especially statistics, and sociological research, inventing his own technique of statistical association. After publishing ''and'' , Tönnies focused aspects of the social life such as morals, folkways, and

. However he is best known for his published work on and because his later works applied those concepts to aspects of social life.

''Gemeinschaft'' and ''Gesellschaft''

Tönnies distinguished between two types of

ings. ''Gemeinschaft''—often translated as ''community'' (or left untranslated)—refers to groups based on feelings of togetherness and mutual bonds, which are felt like a goal to be kept up, their members being means for this goal. ''Gesellschaft''—often translated as ''society''—on the other hand, refers to groups that are sustained by it being instrumental for their members' aims and goals. The equilibrium in ''Gemeinschaft'' is achieved through means of

social control Social control is the regulations, sanctions, mechanisms, and systems that restrict the behaviour of individuals in accordance with social norms and orders. Through both informal and formal means, individuals and groups exercise social con ...

, such as morals,

conformism Conformity or conformism is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to social group, group norms, politics or being like-minded. Social norm, Norms are implicit, specific rules, guidance shared by a group of individuals, that guide t ...

, and exclusion, while ''Gesellschaft'' keeps its balance through police, laws, tribunals, and prisons. Amish and Hasidic communities are examples of ''Gemeinschaft'', while states are types of ''Gesellschaft''. Rules in ''Gemeinschaft'' are implicit, while ''Gesellschaft'' has explicit rules (written laws). ''Gemeinschaft'' may be exemplified historically by a family or a neighborhood in a pre-modern (rural) society; ''Gesellschaft'' by a joint-stock company or a state in a modern society, i.e. the society when Tönnies lived. ''Gesellschaft'' relationships arose in an urban and capitalist setting, characterized by

individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and a ...

and impersonal monetary connections between people. Social ties were often instrumental and superficial, with self-interest and exploitation increasingly the norm. Examples are corporations, states, or

voluntary association A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteers, to form a body (or organization) to a ...

s. In his book ''Einteilung der Soziologie'' (Classification of Sociology) he distinguished between three disciplines of sociology, being Pure or Theoretical (''reine, theoretische'') Sociology, Applied (''angewandte'') Sociology, and

Empirical Empirical evidence is evidence obtained through sense experience or experimental procedure. It is of central importance to the sciences and plays a role in various other fields, like epistemology and law. There is no general agreement on how t ...

(''emprische'') Sociology. His distinction between social groupings is based on the assumption that there are only two primary forms of an actor's will to approve of other men. For Tönnies, such approval is by no means self-evident; he is pretty influenced by

Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered t ...

. Following his "essential will" ("Wesenwille"), an actor will see himself as a means to serve the goals of social grouping; very often, it is an underlying, subconscious force. Groupings formed around an essential will are called a Gemeinschaft. The other will is the " arbitrary will" ("Kürwille"): An actor sees a social grouping as a means to further his individual goals, so it is purposive and future-oriented. Groupings around the latter are called Gesellschaft. Whereas the membership in a Gemeinschaft is self-fulfilling, a Gesellschaft is instrumental for its members. In pure sociology—theoretically—these two standard types of will are to be strictly separated; in applied sociology—empirically—they are always mixed. Gender Polarity in "''Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft"'' What is less well-known when discussing the work of Tönnies is that he frequently uses

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

concepts to explain his main ideas. Essential will-arbitrary will, Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft, are all thought of in terms of the polarity of

feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...

masculine Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some beh ...

. Gemeinschaft, for example, is feminine: "the eternal-feminine," since motherliness is the basis of all being together. Essential will is also feminine, whereas Gesellschaft and arbitrary choice are masculine. Tönnies' theory appears to consign him to a nineteenth-century view of the public world belonging to males, while women are relegated to the private realm, as it links together Gemeinschaft/home/woman as opposed to Gesellschaft/marketplace/man. Views on Family In his article "''Funfzehn Thesen zur Erneuerung eines Familienlebens''," published in 1893, he claims that the dissolution of family life has tainted modern society's blood. Tonnies believed that one of the most important ways to resurrect Gemeinschaft in the modern world would be to improve and prolong family life. The demise of the family is caused by modern capitalism and its consequences: low pay, excessive hours of labor for men and women alike, and terrible living conditions. He believes family life has to be revitalized since it is the foundation of all culture and morals. In this case, he proposed two solutions that revolved around the idea of unions devoted to aid and nurture, as he would claim, "the family spirit." Two Solutions # The first would be groupings of organically linked families who, in order to strengthen family life, would preserve family documents, correspond regularly, gather at family festivals, and assist one another by pooling resources. A family fund would be set up to help those who had fallen on hard times or who required money to develop unique skills. # The second version would bring together unrelated families and be dedicated to a simpler and healthier way of life, a more serious and reasonable method of

social interaction A social relation is the fundamental unit of analysis within the social sciences, and describes any voluntary or involuntary interpersonal relationship between two or more conspecifics within and/or between groups. The group can be a language or ...

, and a better comprehension of masculine and feminine thought. Three to five families would choose to band together to achieve these goals; eventually, they might live together in a common residence, engage in

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

purchasing, and even share products. Groups may eventually band together in order to gain greater economic and moral power.

Criticisms

Tönnies' distinction between ''Gemeinschaft'' and ''Gesellschaft'', like others between

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

and

modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular Society, socio-Culture, cultural Norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the ...

, has been criticized for over-generalizing differences between societies and implying that all societies were following a similar

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

ary path, an argument which Tönnies himself never actually proclaimed.''Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft'', Leipzig 1887, §§ 1–40

Legacy

Ferdinand Toennies Bueste Husum-Ausschnitt

The impact that Ferdinand Tönnies left on sociology was the division of groups unconsciously and

conscious Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, a ...

ly. His contribution to sociology included fundamental

dichotomy A dichotomy () is a partition of a set, partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothi ...

, community and society—where structural forms are being made through social life. He separates the idea that individual

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

consciousness by indicating that community is built through

belief A belief is a subjective Attitude (psychology), attitude that something is truth, true or a State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some Life stance, stance, take, or opinion ...

s and society is built through power and a separation of classes.

Published works (selection)

* 1887: ''Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft'', Leipzig: Fues's Verlag, 2nd ed. 1912, 8th edition, Leipzig: Buske, 1935 (reprint 2005, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft; latest edition: Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft. 1880–1935., hrsg. v. Bettina Clausen und Dieter Haselbach, De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston 2019 = Ferdinand Tönnies Gesamtausgabe, Band 2); his basic and never essentially changed study of social man; translated in 1957 as "''Community and Society''", * 1896: ''Hobbes. Leben und Lehre'', Stuttgart: Frommann, 1896, 3rd edn 1925; a philosophical study that reveals his indebtedness to Hobbes, many of whose writings he has edited * 1897: ''Der Nietzsche-Kultus'' (), Leipzig: Reisland * 1905: "The Present Problems of Social Structure", in: ''American Journal of Sociology'', 10(5), p. 569–588 (newly edited, with annotations, in: ''Ferdinand Tönnies Gesamtausgabe'', tom. 7, Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter 2009, p. 269–285) * 1906: ''Philosophische Terminologie in psychologischer Ansicht'', Leipzig: Thomas * 1907: ''Die Entwicklung der sozialen Frage'', Leipzig: Göschen * 1909: ''Die Sitte'', Frankfurt on Main: Rütten & Loening * 1915: ''Warlike England as seen by herself'', New York: Dillingha

* 1917: ''Der englische Staat und der deutsche Staat'', Berlin: Curius; pioneering political sociology * 1921: ''

Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

. Leben und Lehre'', Jena: Lichtenstein * 1922: ''Kritik der öffentlichen Meinung'', Berlin: Springer; 2nd ed. 2003, Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter (Ferdinand Tönnies Gesamtausgabe, tom. 14); translated as ''On Public Opinion''. Applied sociology revealing Tönnies' thorough scholarship and his commitment as an analyst and critic of modern public opinion * 1924, 1926, and 1929: ''Soziologische Studien und Kritiken'', 3 vols, Jena: Fischer, a collection in three volumes of those papers he considered most relevant * 1925, Tönnies, F. ''Einteilung der Soziologie. Zeitschrift Für Die Gesamte Staatswissenschaft''. English translation: Classification of Sociology. Journal of the Complete Political Science/ Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 79(1), 1–15. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40744384 * 1926: '' Fortschritt und soziale Entwicklung'', Karlsruhe: Braun * 1927: ''Der Selbstmord in Schleswig-Holstein'', Breslau: Hirt * 1931: ''Einführung in die Soziologie'', Stuttgart: Enke. His fully elaborated introduction into sociology as a social science (latest edition Ferdinand Tönnies Gesamtausgabe Band 21, herausgegeben von Dieter Haselbach, De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston 2021, ISBN 978-3-11-015853-3). * 1935: ''Geist der Neuzeit'', Leipzig: Buske; 2nd ed. 1998 (in: ''Ferdinand Tönnies Gesamtausgabe'', tom. 22); a study in applied sociology, analysing the transformation from European Middle Ages to modern times * 1971: ''On Sociology: Pure, Applied, and Empirical.'' Selected writings edited and with an introd. by Werner J. Cahnman and Rudolf Heberle. The University of Chicago Press. * 1974: ''On Social Ideas and Ideologies.'' Edited, Translated, and Annotated by E. G. Jacoby, Harper & Row * 1998–: Tönnies' Complete Works ('' Ferdinand Tönnies Gesamtausgabe''), 24 vols., critically edited by Lars Clausen, Alexander Deichsel, Cornelius Bickel, Rolf Fechner (until 2006), Carsten Schlüter-Knauer, and Uwe Carstens (2006– ), Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter (1998– ) * Materialien der Ferdinand-Tönnies-Arbeitsstelle am Institut für Technik- und Wissenschaftsforschung der Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, edited by Arno Bammé: ** 2008: ''Soziologische Schriften 1891–1905'', ed. Rolf Fechner, Munich/Vienna: Profil ** 2009: ''Schriften und Rezensionen zur Anthropologie'', ed. Rolf Fechner, Munich/Vienna: Profil ** 2009: ''Schriften zu Friedrich von Schiller'', ed. Rolf Fechner, Munich/Vienna: Profil ** 2010: ''Schriften und Rezensionen zur Religion'', ed. Rolf Fechner, Profil, Munich/Vienna: Profil ** 2010: ''Geist der Neuzeit'', ed. Rolf Fechner, Profil-Verlag, Munich/Vienna: Profil ** 2010: ''Schriften zur Staatswissenschaft'', ed. Rolf Fechner, Profil, Munich/Vienna: Profil ** 2011: ''Schriften zum Hamburger Hafenarbeiterstreik'', ed. Rolf Fechner, Munich/Vienna: Profl

Notes

References

* Adair-Toteff, C., ''Ferdinand Tönnies: Utopian Visionar'', in: Sociological Theory, vol. 13, 1996, p. 58–65 * Bickel, Cornelius: ''Ferdinand Tönnies: Soziologie als skeptische Aufklärung zwischen Historismus und Rationalismus'', Opladen: Westdt. Verlag, 1991. * Bond, Niall, "Ferdinand Tönnies's Romanticism," ''The European Legacy'', 16.4 (2011), 487–504. *Bond, N. "Ferdinand Tönnies' Appraisal of Karl Marx: Debts and Distance." ''Journal of Classical Sociology'', vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 136–162. *Braeman, John. "Ferdinand Julius Tönnies." Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2021. * Cahnman, Werner J. (ed.), ''Ferdinand Tönnies: A New Evaluation'', Leiden, Brill, 1973. * Cahnman, Werner J., ''Weber and Toennies: Comparative Sociology in Historical Perspective.'' New Brunswick: Transaction, 1995. * Cahnman, Werner J./Heberle, Rudolf: ''Ferdinand Toennies on Sociology: Pure, Applied and Empirical'', 1971. * Carstens, Uwe: ''Ferdinand Tönnies: Friese und Weltbürger'', Norderstedt: Books on Demand 2005, iography, German* Clausen, Lars: ''The European Revival of Tönnies'', in: Cornelius Bickel/Lars Clausen, ''Tönnies in Toronto'', C.A.U.S.A. 26 (''Christian-Albrechts-Universität • Soziologische Arbeitsberichte''), Kiel 1998, p. 1–11 * Clausen, Lars: ''Tönnies, Ferdinand'', in: '' Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie'', tom. X, Munich: K. G. Saur 2008, erman* Clausen, Lars/Schlüter, Carsten (eds.): ''Hundert Jahre " Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft"'', Opladen: Leske + Budrich 1991 erman* Deflem, Mathieu
"Ferdinand Tönnies on Crime and Society: An Unexplored Contribution to Criminological Sociology."
''History of the Human Sciences'' 12(3):87–116, 1999. * Deflem, Mathieu,

In the ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Online'', edited by Edward Craig. London: Routledge, 2001. * Fechner, Rolf: ''Ferdinand Tönnies – Werkverzeichnis'', Berlin/New York (Walter de Gruyter) 1992, ibliography, German* Fechner, Rolf: ''Ferdinand Tönnies (1855–1936)'', in: Handbuch der Politischen Philosophie und Sozialphilosophie, Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter 2008, , * Ionin, Leonid: "Ferdinand Tönnies' Sociological Conception", translated by H. Campbell Creighton, in: Igor Kon (ed.), ''A History of Classical Sociology'' (pp. 173–188). Moscow:

Progress Publishers Progress Publishers was a Moscow-based Soviet Union, Soviet publisher founded in 1931. Publishing program Progress Publishers published books in a variety of languages: Russian, English, and many other European and Asian languages. They issued ma ...

, 1989. * Jacoby, Eduard Georg: ''Die moderne Gesellschaft im sozialwissenschaftlichen Denken von Ferdinand Tönnies'', Stuttgart: Enke 1971 erman* Merz-Benz, Peter-Ulrich: ''Tiefsinn und Scharfsinn: Ferdinand Tönnies' begriffliche Konstitution der Sozialwelt'', Frankfurt on Main 1995 (same year: Amalfi Prize) erman* Podoksik, Efraim: ''Overcoming the Conservative Disposition: Oakeshott vs. Tönnies''. ''Political Studies'' 56(4):857–880, 2008. *Stafford, William. "Ferdinand Tonnies on Gender, Women and the Family." ''History of Political Thought'', vol. 16, no. 3, Sept. 1995, p. 391. *Tönnies, Ferdinand. ''Tönnies: Community and Civil Society : Community and Civil Society'', edited by Jose Harris, Cambridge University Press, 2001.

External links

Ferdinand-Tönnies-Gesellschaft
*
Famous Scholars from Kiel: Ferdinand Tönnies
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonnies, Ferdinand 1855 births 1936 deaths People from Nordfriesland People from the Duchy of Schleswig North Frisians German Frisians National-Social Association politicians Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians German sociologists 19th-century German philosophers Hobbes scholars German male writers Urban theorists Leipzig University alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Bonn alumni University of Jena alumni Academic staff of the University of Kiel 20th-century German philosophers