Impact Of The Toennies Family

Katherine Lanphear
March 23, 2017
Ms. Boehning
TPSP Hypothesis Response
Creative Title
Hypothesis: Although it is evident that the Toennies family has impacted both science and culture, some people would be surprised to know the full effect that they had. Specifically, the impact of the Red Orchestra, the founding of modern German sociology, and ideas that have contributed to current theories in physics will lead anyone to find that the Toennies have been influential in the course of history.
The above hypothesis, although an overstatement, was correct. The Toennies family, or relations thereof have been very influential in the past. Harro Schulze-Boysen was active in one side of The Red Orchestra. In Berlin, he transported secrets from
It is a book that has gone through more than six editions in multiple languages. This book conveys the principles of Kürwille (roughly rational will) and Wesenwille (roughly natural will) and how they appear in the Gemeinschaft (roughly community) and the Gesellschaft (roughly society). The Wesenwille appears in the Gemeinschaft “which is maintained by traditional rules and a universal sense of solidarity which fits the organic theory of social union”(Britannica Online Encyclopedia) In the Kürwille based Gesellschaft, rational self- interest is the stronger element. This theory is the one of the first of its kind, however, the notion of kürwille has shown up in Thomas Hobbes’s Behemoth and Elements of Law, Natural and Polotic. In the community, people share common bonds with traditions, objectives, or beliefs. “A good example of Gemeinschaft would be a church or other religious institution” (Ferdinand Toennies Theory: Overview and Explanation). The people that attend this church are all there because of a bond, in this case their religion and other beliefs. In the Gesellschaft relationships are more formal and impersonal. The people will not know each other’s names but still respond to them in a polite way. The Gemienschaft and the Gesellshaft are two separate concepts with separate ideas and mannerisms. These ideas were revolutionary at the time because it
He has been awarded various prizes for his work on subjects relating to that. For his work with molecular spectroscopy with superfluid helium droplets he won the Hewlett- Packard Europhysics prize. He has also won The Warsaw University Kolos Medal, the Stern Gariarch Gold Medal, and the Physics award of the Gottingen Academy of Science. He was born to a German Immigrant family in Pennsylvania. His father was a famous chemist by the name of Gerrit Toennies (who’s father is Ferdinand) and has said that his father was one of the main reasons he went into the field of science. After majoring at Amherst College, he went on to earn a P.H.D at Brown University. He went into the FullBright program, which was essentially an exchange program to Gottingen, Germany. After graduation, he went back to Gottingen as a director of the Max Planck institute. He has spent many years at the Max Planck Institute, and he will spend many more. In my interview with him we discussed why exactly he stays at this institute. He said that it was because he is finishing a book he has been writing for 25 years. He also said, jokingly, that it’s because he doesn’t know what else to do. (Katherine Lanphear and Jan Peter Toennies Interview) My great uncle (J. Peter Toennies) is still very much alive and well after nearly 87