Apparently, modernity is not so bad – not quite catastrophic as some would have you believe. Simmel and Benjamin think so anyway. Their approach to sociology is a little different from others. Of course, there are still some Marxist and Weberian notions in their recipe, but they add some ideas of drunken artists, aesthetics, and find meaning in the chaos of modern life. This essay will examine these notions, first by examining the formulation of Simmel and Benjamin's theories and then by examining how these differ from other approaches. LET'S TAKE SOME BAUDELAIRE... Of course, we can't begin a discussion of the work of Simmel and Benjamin without mentioning the influence of the poet Baudelaire, whose mid-19th century observations and writings on urban life shed light on both Simmel's and Benjamin's perspectives on the modern condition and, therefore, their sociological approach to its examination. For Baudelaire, life in the European metropolises of the 19th century – Berlin, Paris, London, etc. – was a crowd-informed experience; the masses flocking to the cities; which filled the streets and alleys; of multiple shapes, forms and qualities. While some reacted with dismay and disdain to such a mass (Engles and Poe), Baudelaire allowed himself to be overcome by the experience, refraining from such a critical perspective but observing with interest and describing in his works the interactions and dances between people. The observer watches the variety dance; many; of mass – he is the flâneur (Benjamin 1973: 128). The flâneur is the well-off gentleman who has free time, who strolls, who wanders nonchalantly through the streets of the city attracting the spectacle of the crowd – of variety, of juxtaposition, of change....... middle of the he article......something about meaning – something that unlike some notions can be found by looking at pieces of modernity – through an interpretive perspective. Modernity is thus redeemed – utopia is still in sight. Works Cited Benjamin, Walter, 1973, Charles Baudelaire: A Lyric Poet in the Era of High Capitalism, London, New Left Books, pp. 120-131; 157-158Buck-Morss, Susan, 1993, “Dreamworld of Mass Culture” in Levin, David (ed.), Modernity and the Hegemony of Vision, Berkley, University of California PressClark, Nigel, 1999, Lecture notes: Georg Simmel and Walter Benjamin, University of Auckland Craig, Ian, 1997, Classical Social Theory, Oxford, Oxford University Press, Ch. 10 Frisby, David, 1985 “Georg Simmel: modernity's first sociologist” in Theory, Cultureand Society, Vol. 2, n° 3 Simmel, Georg, 1950, The sociology of Georg Simmel, New York, The Free Press, Ch. 4