Four myths in the history of social thought

In this paper I wish to discuss, and to question, four prevalent interpretations of the history of social thought - interpretations which, while they have often been applied very broadly, have derived particularly from the exegesis of the writings of Emile Durkheim. These interpretations, I want to argue, while they are very widely accepted. are either false or highly misleading. As popular myths centring upon the works of one of the most influential contributors to the formation of modern sociology, they have exerted a major effect upon assessments and evaluations of the past development of the subject: and they have thereby helped to obscure the real nature of important aspects of that development.