The Neo-Lamarckian Tools Deployed by the Young Durkheim: 1882–1892

Snait B. Gissis*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

I argue that the French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) decided to constitute sociology, a novel field, as ‘scientific’ early in his career. He adopted evolutionized biology as then practiced as his principal model of science, but at first wavered between alternative repertoires of concepts, models, metaphors and analogies, in particular Spencerian Lamarckism and French neo-Lamarckism. I show how Durkheim came to fashion a particular deployment of the French neo-Lamarckian repertoire. The paper describes and analyzes this repertoire and explicates how it might have been available to a non-biologist. I analyze Durkheim’s very early writings between 1882 and 1892 in this context to substantiate my argument.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)153-190
Number of pages38
JournalJournal of the History of Biology
Volume56
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2023

Funding

FundersFunder number
Karen Rader and Marsha Richmond

    Keywords

    • Durkheim
    • French neo-Lamarckism
    • Social
    • Sociology
    • Transformism

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The Neo-Lamarckian Tools Deployed by the Young Durkheim: 1882–1892'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this