Does Infant Cognition Research Undermine Sociological Theory? A Critique of Bergesen's Attack on Durkheim

Abstract

This article discusses how the results of infant research challenge the assumptions of the classical sciences of social behaviour. According to A.J. Bergesen, the findings of infant research invalidate Durkheim's theory of mental categories, thus requiring a re‐theorizing of sociology. This article argues that Bergesen's reading of Emile Durkheim is incorrect, and his review of the infant research in fact invalidates his argument. Reviewing the assumptions of sociology in the light of the findings of infant research, it is argued that the real challenge is to formulate a research strategy that combines the findings of the two sciences.

The Roles of Evolution in the Social Sciences: Is Biology Ballistic?

“…Problems of this variant are both empirical and theoretical. They connect to a recent, significant debate in the Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, regarding the role of innate factors in sociological theory (Bergesen, 2012;Bjerre, 2012;Peterson, 2012). Bergesen makes the important argument that traditional and current sociology generally cannot and does not take into account a range of impressive findings from psychology that seem to point towards there being innate capacities for language and other cognitive and social functions.…”

The question of category: A reconceptualization through Luhmann's systems theory

“…Bjerre (2012, p. 4) has noted that ‘the mental categories are of religious origin, but once developed, they become less and less dependent on religion, since they are reproduced as structuring principles of the collective representations of society’. This emphasis on a structuring role seems valuable for an additional conceptualization of categories as structuring principles of the semantics, which are utilized by the society to produce descriptions and self‐descriptions.…”

A New Foundation for the Social Sciences? Searle’s Misreading of Durkheim

“…Durkheim argues that it is within religion-in ritual actions-that the origin of the human mind should be sought and, therefore, consequently also the origin of the mental/social categories, logic, and language(Durkheim [1912(Durkheim [ ] 1995Rawls 2004;Schmaus 2004). His account has been attacked, due to both its logical argumentation and its empirical references(Needham 1963;Rawls 1997;Thomassen 2012); and even today, new research on cognition raises debates about Durkheim's theory(Bergesen 2004;Bjerre 2012). …”