Durkheim and The Structure of Social Action*

In: Sociological inquiry: the quarterly journal of the International Sociology Honor Society, Band 49, Heft 1, S. 27-39

Abstract

The analysis of Durkheim in The Structure of Social Action is integral to Parsons's discussion of the utilitarian‐positivist tradition and the emergence of a voluntaristic theory of action from it. The four "stages" of theoretical argument in Durkheim can be related directly to the four defining elements of the "utilitarian dilemma," namely empiricism, rationality, atomism, and the randomness of ends. The most questionable aspect of Parsons's argument is the alleged stubbornness of Durkheim's empiricism. On the other hand, much of the criticism of Parsons's argument, by Pope in particular, although also by Scott and Warner, Is either misdirected or itself questionable. The development and conclusions of Durkheim's moral sociology are as Parsons claims, and form a viable basis for a non‐positivist theory of action.