The present study focuses on Simmel's early period. It consists of three parts: "Studies," "Critique of Ethical Basic Concepts," and "Problems of the Knowledge of the Social." The "Studies" cover the period up to his habilitation in 1885; they reveal diverse interests and plans and indicate the first lasting scientific orientations. The second half of the 1880s was primarily dedicated to the project of a "Critique of Ethical Basic Concepts," which later became visible in the so-called "Moral Science" as a transitional stage of sociology. The introduction to Moral Science, which Simmel later referred to as a "youthful sin," is therefore at the center of interest in the young Simmel. Finally, the third part outlines the "Problems of the Knowledge of the Social," as they presented themselves to Simmel since the early 1890s.