Abstract
This paper attempts to reinterpret Durkheim's Les formes élérnentaires de la vie religieuse. This text is often regarded as the pioneering work in the sociology of knowledge or sociology of science by pointing out that reason (concepts, category, logic, etc.) is dependent on social conditions. When Tiryakian referred to Les formes élémentaires as “the sociological critique of reason, ” the meaning of this concept was much the same. Indeed, it is right to regard this text as the sociological critique of reason, but its meaning needs to be understood quite differently.
This text gives us a strange impression because it analyzes the most “primitive” religion to explain the “actual reality, ” that is, modern society. Arguing that a link exists between modern science and primitive religion, Durkheim mediates the dichotomy of rationality/irrationality and situated society as the inner relationships between them. Ritual is also important in considering the mechanisms of society because without it, neither idea nor concept could be maintained. Ritual plays a fundamental role in creating and recreating the social group. In the last part of this paper, I examine Parsons' critique of Les formes élémentaires to make our reading clearer. Parsons pointed out that the framework of Les formes élémentaires cannot evade some aporias such as incommensurability or solipsism. Considering this critique, we will show that our reading can be an alternative to this interpretation.
