Gofman, Alexandre. Durkheim était-il rationaliste ? Contribution à l’analyse de la sociologie morale durkheimienne. Durkheimian Studies. 2026. Vol. 29. Pp. 3-17.

Abstract

This article attempts to clarify the essence of Durkheim’s rationalism, especially in his interpretation of morality. The author distinguishes between two aspects, or meanings, of Durkheim’s rationalism: 1) epistemological one and 2) ontological one. In the first, epistemological sense, Durkheim was a convinced rationalist, defending rationalistic means of cognition of social phenomena. In the second, ontological sense, Durkheim was only partially a rationalist. He argued that the social reality is subject to the laws and regularities of nature; but, at the same time, it is the sphere of domination of ‘irrational’ factors (collective emotions, passions, beliefs, etc). According to Durkheim, science could not be a direct substitute for religion. He predicted a phenomenon that could be called the ‘rationalization and moralization of the sacred’.

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