Individual Personality and Collective Personality According to Émile Durkheim and Georg Simmel
In this paper, we address the question of personality in Durkheim and Simmel.We will address this issue by distinguishing between two distinct but interrelated questions, each of which will be specifically analyzed. 1) Question of philosophical anthropology : the concept of « individual personality ».It will be to discern what notion of the human being is implemented by the two authors ; We will focus in particular on the question of the difference between individual and individual, and between mind and body, on the other, in the conceptual schemes of Durkheim and Simmel. 2) Question macrosociological : here we will try to make sense of the term « collective personality », that is to say, « subjectivity of society » (understood as the more inclusive context of interactions between individuals).We must determine here whether it makes sense, in terms of both authors considered, to posit the existence, for a social entity, a « character traits » individuals.If the notion has obvious political benefits, it is not without methodological difficulty. We will see that as well as Durkheim Simmel have been reluctant on this issue.