ABSTRACT
Durkheim, like Bernard, does not want a science of conclusions which are already given as deductions from philosophical principles, but a science of discoveries. The Rules is an instrument for the attainment of that end. Durkheim states the object of his treatise on method quite clearly: it is to distinguish the particular facticity of sociology from the facticities of the other sciences. Durkheim’s Rules are founded upon their necessity for the recognition of a real object which is the space in reality of a science yet to come into being, a vacant space awaiting its science. The existence of this space must be demonstrated and distinguished before the science can begin its work of penetration and explanation. It must be distinguished to release it from the grip of discourses which deny its existence; the discourses of individualist metaphysics, of social ‘common-sense’, and of biologism and psychologism. The new ‘science’ must begin with a theoretical critique of the discourses which deny the very existence of the reality which is its object and with a set of rules which enable the as yet untrained practitioners of the infant science to ‘recognise’ the signs of the presence of this object. The origin of the science is the sighting, the recognition, of an existent real object hitherto obscured by the ideas which blind a true perception.
