ABSTRACT
Introductory remarks Taking into account the fact that he grew up in the tradition of German historicistic idealism, Max Weber made significant progress toward a meta and object theoretical integration of idealism and positivism in a voluntaristic theory of action, even though he did not realize and theoretically penetrate this integration completely. Emile Durkheim’s starting point, French positivism, lay at the other end of the spectrum. Influenced no doubt by his extensive knowledge of the German idealist tradition, he moved significantly toward a voluntaristic theory of action, surpassing Weber in terms of theoretical depth and consistency. There was, however, no exchange of ideas between Weber and Durkheim, a curiosity of intellectual history, especially considering the depth of Durkheim’s acquaintance with German sociology.1 This makes the convergence of their paths in a voluntaristic theory of action even more astonishing.
