Abstract

On a superficial level, the works of Émile Durkheim and Peter Winch appear to have little in common. Although both aim to clarify the nature of the social and provide a methodological foundation for social inquiry, Durkheim is often portrayed to be a grand theory builder introducing a new metaphysics of the social while Winch is mostly portrayed as an anti-metaphysical quietist defending an ordinary language approach to social inquiry.This article argues that beyond these characterizations there are more than straightforward similarities between Durkheim and Winch in their respective attempts to redefine the aim and method of social inquiry, transforming it from a purely epistemological undertaking to an empirically informed conception of critique. Much of the perception of dissimilarity between the two thinkers hinges on their respective concepts of social reality.