The analysis that Durkheim carries out, even if it presents itself in contradictory forms and perspectives, is marked by a double contact, an ambivalence that is generated by the lack of awareness that man has of himself. His very nature, in fact, appears to him outlined by an irreparable split. The French sociologist brings attention back to an ancient philosophical problem: the definition of human natureThe essay, written at the dawn of the First World War, describes man as a social animal in perpetual struggle with himself or, as Pascal argued, “a monster of contradictions".
Homo duplex
“ The traditional antithesis of soul and body is therefore not an idle mythological conception. We are truly double, we give substance to an antinomy .” Human nature is characterized by the presence of an internal split , which, presenting itself through different nuances and in multiple forms, then comes to determine human dualism properly understood. The old expression “ homo duplex ” is therefore confirmed by the facts. “ We are anything but simple and our interior life has a double center of gravity .” Man is therefore divided into two spheres: on one side there is his individuality, more precisely the body; on the other there is everything in him that expresses anything other than what he really is. Between these two spheres there is not a simple differentiation but a perpetual antagonism: they fight, deny and contradict each other. To quote Pascal again , “man is at the same time angel and beast ,” without being exclusively either.
The perpetual internal conflict
Attempts at reification undertaken by the individual prove futile when they are delineated within a perspective of vague solipsism. From this perspective, the ambition for self-knowledge is placed within a conflictual framework specific to the individual himself. This conflict, this incessant division against ourselves, is what creates both our greatness and our misery. Poverty, in that we are destined to live in insignificance, but also greatness, as a peculiar characteristic that differentiates us from all other beings. The individual manifests the affirmation of his entity in the expression of a certain centrality : centrality not as a present state of man but as the possibility of his self-giving, a painful search for this possibility, never as a dogma equal or contrary to that of a God, not a static principle, but rather an ongoing movement toward its realization. The dividing line between the constitutive ambivalence of human nature describes the evolutionary tension of a new society that is emerging. It brings with it the uncertainty of an unexplored dimension, its dogmatic nature suggests the impossibility of finding a balance there.
Lorenzo Villani
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Born in Naples in 98, I currently live in Florence. I study Political Science at the University of Florence. I aspire to observe contemporary dynamics, social conflict, and inequality, adopting the " sociological mindset as a tool for liberation ."
