The city is one of the most significant motifs of modernity. Its precincts contain all of the constant restlessness, differentiation, and de-differentiation that categorically define modernity. With his account of blasé and neurasthenic attitudes, classical sociologist Georg Simmel provided an indispensable contribution to examining and understanding modern experience. The two were conceived as generic to the city. They are traceable to the conduct and outlook of all urban-industrial city dwellers. They are a condition of life in the modern metropolis. Of course, in their extreme form they result in disordered behavior and the deformation of the personality. But, in emphasizing the generic character of the two categories, Simmel was at pains to draw attention to the mundane nature of what he regarded to be a historically specific social psychology.