Reason and Social Change in Durkheim's Thought: The Changing Relationship between Individuals and Society

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to facilitate an understanding of Durkheim's conception of social change. While the issue of social change is present in Durkheim's thought, it is ancillary to his concern with the relationship between the individual and society. It is suggested that Durkheim's conception of social change can be understood properly only by viewing it as part of his larger sociological concern with the changing relationship between individuals and society. Special attention is focused on the much neglected issue of Durkheim's conception and use of reason, which is pivotal to the linkage between individuals and society. It will be demonstrated that, from Durkheim's perspective, change in the social structures through which individuals associate affects the faculty of reason and the formation of “collective consciousness,” and thus the moral and normative regulation of social action.