Socrate et Durkheim : paradoxe et logique du bon sens commun

Abstract

Although paradoxical as such, the parallel between Durkheim and Socrates stems from a twofold assumption: (i) both discourses, the philosopher’s and the logician’s, define themselves in the frame of a common generic system – that of constitutive discourses – which consecrates them as discourses of science; (ii) in this respect, these discourses place themselves dialogically in opposition with the truths of ordinary discourse. Rooted in normative, ordinary discourse is a recycling system of pre-established facts; in contrast with this, scientific discourse generates new assertions whose strength undermines the epistemic system of the doxa. Is the paradox a means of expression peculiar to scientific discourse? Taking the theory of semantic blocks as a starting point, the author demonstrates how scientific discourse, by instantiating new semantic blocks, dismantles the stereotypes of basic common sense through the establishment of new routines of thinking, which are not only transgressive but often in contradiction with the doxa.

Keywords

• argumentation
• semantic block
• (pseudo) paradox
• stereotype