Chemical Metaphors in Sociological Discourse

Durkheim Through the Imagery of Rousseau

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2404604
AutoresTeresa Sousa Fernandes (Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, autor correspondente)
Ano2008
Volume8
Fascículo4
Páginas447-466
Data de publicação2008-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Classical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1468-795X • E-ISSN: 1741-2897
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1468795x08095207
OpenAlexW2099010023
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas8
Referências citadas11

This article addresses the role of chemical ideas in the formation of sociological discourse, focusing on the works of Rousseau and Durkheim. The opposition between physics and chemistry, as envisaged by Rousseau and the encyclopaedists, was transposed to social philosophy. This procedure is at the origin of contrasting sociological concepts. 'Aggregation' and 'association', in particular, are metaphors of the physical and the chemical object, respectively. It is shown that these Rousseauian constructions form the matrix of Durkheim's definition of the sui generis nature of collective representations. The interpretation is centred on the concept of synthesis as it relates to chemical notions of 'affinity' and 'combination'. I reassess, in this context, the continuity of Durkheim's thought

Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Opposition (politics · Politics · Sociological theory · Sociology · Emile Durkheim and Sociology · Historical and Scientific Studies · Law · Philosophy · Social Representations and Identity