Religion and the dualism of the social condition in Durkheim and Bataille

Bibliographic Data

ID2159337
AuthorsWilliam Ramp (University of Lethbridge, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume32
Issue1
Pages119-140
Publication date2003-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEconomy and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-5147 • E-ISSN: 1469-5766
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0308514032000045807
OpenAlexW2014610093
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited18

One important legacy of the Collège de sociologie is its development of certain Durkheimian themes, particularly those concerning religion. Both Durkheim and Bataille sought to understand religion and the sacred not as mere cultural phenomena but as defining features of personal, social and economic life. The members of the Collège, and especially Bataille, sought to subject both society and sociology to a radical form of interrogation. Like Durkheim, if in different ways, they sought to situate and address the commitments of social inquiry at the centre of their work rather than at its margins. This article suggests how Bataille can be said to have adopted and radicalized a Durkheimian emphasis on a dualism central to both personhood and society, while rejecting a Durkheimian faith in an evolving sociological enlightenment

Dualism · Enlightenment · Epistemology · Faith · Interrogation · Modernity · Personhood · Political science · Sociology · Subject (documents · Emile Durkheim and Sociology · Law · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy · Philosophy, Sociology, Political Theory