货币之桥上的迷失者：齐美尔论货币与现代性体验

对现代个体生存体验的关注是齐美尔现代性思考的重要特征。随着货币经济在现代社会的日益繁荣，货币逐渐将其自身的品格渗透到现代人的心理层面，影响现代个体行为，塑造独特的现代性体验。可以说，货币成为“货币”的过程，就是现代人获得其现代体验的过程。都市体验是最为典型的现代性体验，都市人是“忧郁的栖居者”，厌腻态度构成了现代人“忧郁”的内核。而在冒险体验与陌生体验中，蕴藏着现代个体保持独特个性、对抗货币逻辑的可能。通过“货币”，齐美尔试图揭示的不仅仅是现代人的生存问题，更是关乎人类终极价值的问题--在看似碎片化的现代性体验与人类的总体存在方式之间，齐美尔提供了一条经由“货币”的解释路径。

Lost on the Bridge of Money: Simmel on Money and Experience of Modernity

The emphasis on the survival experience of modern individuals is an important feature of Simmel's thought on modernity. This, apart from continuing the tradition of aesthetic modernity and being influenced by “the mood of fin-de-siecle”, is very much related to Simmel's unique sociological interest. The maturity of monetary economy constitutes the historical root of our modernity experience. With the increasing dominance of monetary economy in modern society, money becomes part of human psyche, influences the behaviors of modern individuals and creates a unique experience of modernity. It can be said that the process of money becoming “Money” is the process that modern individuals acquire their modernity experience. Money plays the role of God in modern society, elevated from “absolute means” to “absolute purpose”. It erases the differences between objects, among people, and between people and objects. According to the Money logic, modern people can be readily labeled such as the greedy, the avaricious, the extravagant or the ascetic poverty, living in a state of cynicism or blasé.For urban life is the typical experience of modernity, urban people are “Unhappy Dwellers”. Their blasé attitude constitutes the core of the unhappiness of modern people. However, in the experience of adventurer and stranger, it is possible for modern individuals to maintain their unique personality and resist the logic of Money. Through money, Simmel reveals not only the plight of modern people but also the ultimate value of human being.