Durkheim, Althusser and Aron on Montesquieu and the Turn of Western Thought

  • CHONG Ming
Expand

Online published: 2020-09-19

Abstract

WANG Yang-Chong analyzed the precursory contribution of Montesquieu to the rise of Western sociology, particular his influence on its founding father, Auguste Comte. After Comte, sociologist Émile Durkheim, Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser and liberal philosopher Raymond Aron also discussed the pivotal role of Montesquieu in the history of Western thought, particularly his pioneering contribution to the emergence of modern social sciences. Durkheim and Althusser argued that Montesquieu didn't fully develop the scientific character of his social studies because he was bound by the traditional philosophy, while Aron emphasized that the philosophical nature of Montesquieu's thought should be taken seriously. This divergence concerns not only the difference of disciplines between philosophy and social sciences, but also the relationship between fact and value and that between plurality and universality, which are fundamental to modern scholarship and modernity.

Cite this article

CHONG Ming . Durkheim, Althusser and Aron on Montesquieu and the Turn of Western Thought[J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2020 , 52(5) : 34 -42 . DOI: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2020.05.004

Outlines

/