Durkheim and the Philosophy of His Time

Durkheim was trained as a philosopher, taught philosophy, and never left the philosophical field. He started his career with standard philosophical equipment but also with a growing disenchantment about the eclectic and metaphysical mainstream that had survived the establishment of the Third Republic. Philosophy was too general to deal with the growth of scientific invention. Durkheim pursued simultaneously two goals: first, he established a firm demarcation line between philosophy and sociology, guaranteeing the full autonomy of the latter. Second, he benefited from his full membership in the philosophical institution. Rationalism remained his lifetime affiliation. It was largely based on a French version of neo-Kantianism. In the last part of his life, he engaged in a strong discussion with American pragmatism, as a way of clarifying his grasp of social practice.