ABSTRACT
The question of whether modernity is just another form of culture, or something radically different and more universal, in fact global, confronts all humanity at present. In debating this issue, and the implications for justice and individual rights contained therein, there are some essential arguments about differences between modern and traditional society, that, while they have had some impact on the development of social thinking, could, given a different interpretation, have profound significance for this question. Durkheim's argument that justice is a functional requirement of, what he called, organic solidarity, looms large among these.
