From the Behaved Conscience to the Dialectics of Existence: a confrontation between Durkheim and Freud

Abstract

This essay contains the outlines of a larger discussion
developped in a thesis whose central point is the theoretical
confrontation between Durkheim's social onthology and psycho-ana
lytical theory. The main objective is to apprehend the relation
between individual and society within each theoretical field and
to discuss the apprehension of the subjective aspects of social
life by sociological theory. Two main lines of analysis are here
considered - those of culture and of knowledge - as points of view
for the observation of the issue. These two lines suggest the
epistemological discussion of the difficulties encountered by sociological
theory in dealing with subjectivity and its influence
on social phenomena.