Émile Durkheim and the social bases of morality

Author(s)

Raquel Andrade Weiss

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2011-02-15

Examining board members

Ricardo Ribeiro Terra; Alexandre Braga Massella; Fernando Costa Mattos; Luiz Henrique Lopes dos Santos; João Carlos Salles Pires da Silva

• Advisor: Ricardo Ribeiro Terra

Abstract

I have to main purposes in this thesis, which are 1) to present an aspect of Durkheims work that is basically about what morals should be and 2) look for a plausible grounding of this very specific moral ideal sustained by him, which himself refers as individualism, and of his proposals regarding the institutionalization of a secular moral education. The main thesis to be sustained affirms that all his arguments regarding what moral should or ought to be corresponds to an ideal collectively created, therefore, its ground is collectivity itself. Defending this particular ideal instead of any other possible one depends upon the evaluation made possible by his science that it corresponds to the intrinsic rationale of his own society, therefore, is both normal and desirable. (AU)