The Social World as Will and Idea

Schopenhauer's Influence upon Durkheim's Thought

Bibliographic Data

ID3320127
AuthorsStjepan G Mestrovic (Lander College, S. Carolina, corresponding author)
Year1988
Volume36
Issue4
Pages674-705
Publication date1988-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-954x.1988.tb00704.x
OpenAlexW2113528872
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited30

The starting-point for this analysis is a remark made by André Lalande, that Durkheim was so enamoured with Schopenhauer's philosophy that his students nicknamed him 'Schopen'. The intellectual context shared by Schopenhauer and Durkheim is explored, especially with regard to the opposition between the id-like 'will' and the mind. Schopenhauer's influence upon Durkheim's contemporaries is examined briefly. Then, this new context for apprehending Durkheim's thought is applied to selected problems in Durkheimian scholarship, problems that have to do with the dualism of human nature, perception, the unconscious and the unity of knowledge relative to the object-subject debate. The implications for sociological theory are also discussed

Context (archaeology · Dualism · Epistemology · Object (grammar · Opposition (politics · Perception · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Scholarship · Sociology · Sociology of knowledge · Subject (documents · Unconscious mind · Emile Durkheim and Sociology · Law · Marxism and Critical Theory · Philosophy · Philosophy, Sociology, Political Theory · Psychology

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