Contrary to what is often thought, the structuralist approach has never been adopted in French sociology very extensively. When speaking about structuralism in this discipline, the work of Pierre Bourdieu is generally referred to. The present paper is intentionally heading in another direction and is questioning Levi-Straussian traces in Baudrillard's theory of the consumer society. First, Baudrillard acknowledges being in debt to Levi-Strauss for his conception of consumption as a language. In this perspective exchanged goods are understood as object-signs. We believe nevertheless that Baudrillard goes even further when he analyzes the phenomenon of absurd violence, bearing in mind - even he does not directly disclose it - Levi-Strauss' concept of 'free signifier'. All the same we finally conclude that Baudrillard's use of Levi-Strauss is rather cursory. Despite this fact it is of interest: Thus we follow Baudrillard's analysis and consider the problem of social criticism, which is one of the main topics of his writings here discussed.
This paper deals with the relationship between Emile Durkheim's sociology and the contractualist tradition of political philosophy, represented here principally by Thomas Hobbes. Its aim is to show that Giddens' strict rejection of Parsons' claim according to which Durkheim has reopened in his work the 'Hobbes' problem of order', should not be accepted as such, because it's radicality hides that what is the value in Parsons' thesis. As we argue, Parsons has the merit of noticing that Hobbes and Spencer, who - in respect of their social philosophies - are usually seen as opposed, appear to be close to each other when they are considered by Durkheim as to the conception of the society their philosophies yield. Yet Durkheim's criticism of their individualistic conception of society results in a critique of their theories of the state. It is then proposed that Durkheim's sociology is an endeavour to conceive the society independently of the state, and thus, inversely, to emancipate the state from the society, so that it can be entrusted with a different function other than the guarantor of the social order.
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