Individualistic and Holistic Models of Collective Beliefs and the Role of Rhetoric and Argumentation
The Example of Religious and Political Beliefs
In: Stephen Turner and the Philosophy of the Social
Author:
Alban Bouvier
Alban Bouvier
Search for other papers by Alban Bouvier in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Alban Bouvier in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
This paper addresses the issue of the relevance of research programs focused on the role of argumentation and rhetoric in the emergence, transformation and disappearance of collective beliefs, an issue that has been recently tackled by Dan Sperber. Several alternative models based on methodologically individualist assumptions are briefly investigated from Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber and Vilfredo Pareto to James Coleman, Raymond Boudon, and Jon Elster. But I also argue that recent holistic models, such as Margaret Gilbert’s, inspired by an original re-reading of Emile Durkheim, provide fruitful conceptual tools compatible with methodological individualism.