ABSTRACT
Emile Durkheim uses a developmental-analytical approach to demonstrate in what ways he thinks it possible for the "science born yesterday" to gain recognition, attain adequate maturity and set off distinctive lines of inquiry. In Durkheim's lecture, it can be seen that while Durkheim employs the term "sociology" interchangeably with the "social sciences," he employs it quite frequently and freely. Upon Durkheim's return, by Ministerial decree dated July 20, 1887, Louis Liard created for Durkheim a "course in the social sciences" at Liard's old University, the University of Bordeaux, with the understanding that he should devote part of his teaching to the science of education. Durkheim went to Germany to inquire into the methods and content of German educational philosophy as well as the state of the social sciences. The impact of philosophical thinking on Durkheim is all the more interesting, in as much as Durkheim claims to strive to steer sociology away from metaphysics.
