The Category Project Anthology

The anthology presents a historical-systematic reconstruction of the category project by organising itself according to systematic categories. We selected for each category one or two central texts, that are accompanied by further smaller texts such as reviews, introductions to sections of the Année sociologique, letters or discussions of conferences.

Marcel Mauss’s text ‘In memoriam’ is placed at the beginning of the anthology. Mauss describes  the history of the Durkheim school and pays tribute to those members who did not survive the First World War.

Classification & Polarity: Developing a Hypothesis

The seminal essay on classification (Durkheim and Mauss 1903a) can be read as the prelude to the category project. Although ‘classification’ as such is not an independent category, classificatory practices lead to social divisions, which in turn crystallise into categorical distinctions such as ‘genus’ and ‘species’. The project of examining sociological categories and their genesis therefore begins with classificatory practices. In the anthology, ‘On Some Forms of Primitive Classification’ is supplemented by preparatory work. These consist of letters from Durkheim to Mauss (Durkheim 1998), the introduction to the section Religious Beliefs of L’Année Sociologique (Durkheim and Mauss 1903), reviews (Hubert 1903; Mauss 1903; 1904) and from the introduction that Hubert prefaced to the translation of the Manuel d’histoire des religions (Hubert 1904). Hubert identifies the sacred as a category in the Aristotelian sense (ibid. XLVII).

Classification as a fundamental social phenomenon is taken up again in Robert Hertz’s The Right and the Left Hand (Hertz 1909). Duality, the practice of counting and numbers in general are interpreted there as the result of social practices (Hubert 1905; 1907; Mauss 1904).

Central Texts

Primitive Classification

AS 6, 1-72, 1903.

Émile Durkheim und Marcel Mauss

La prééminence de la main droite, Étude sur la polarité religieuse

Robert Hertz

1909. RP 68, 553-580.

Supplementary Texts

  • Durkheim, É. and M. Mauss. 1903. ‘Représentations religieuses d’êtres et de phénomènes naturels (L’âme, la vie, la maladie, le temps, l’espace, etc.)’ AS 6: 225-226.
  • Mauss, M. 1903. ‘Review de Groot (1901) “The religious system of China, IV, On the social and ancestral worship …”’, AS 6: 226-230 [Oeuvres II, 616-619].
  • Hubert, H. 1903. ‘Review Powell (1900), “The lessons of folklore” and others’, AS 6: 230-5.
  • Mauss, M. 1907. ‘Review H. R. Voth (1905), “Hopi proper names”; H. R. Voth (1905), “Oraibi Natal Customs…”’, AS 10: 294-296 [Oeuvres II, 94-96]
  • Durkheim, É. 1902. ‘Two letters to Mauss concerning the Essay on Classification’, in: Durkheim, É. 1998. Lettres à Marcel Mauss, Paris: PUF, 318-321.
  • Hubert, H. 1904. ‘Introduction à la traduction française’, in P.D. Chantepie de la Saussaye, Manuel d’histoire des religions. Paris: Armand Colin.
  • Mauss, M. ‘Review Usener (1903) “Dreiheit”, McGee (1900) “Primitive Numbers” and Thomas (n.d.) “Numeral Systems of Mexico and Central America”’, AS 7: 308-314 [Oeuvres II, 308-313].
  • Hubert, H. 1905. ‘Review Kewitsch (1904), “Zweifel an der astronomischen und geometrischen Grundlage des 60-Systems”’, AS 8: 337-8.
  • Hubert, H. 1907. ‘Review Roscher (1905), “Die Sieben und Neunzahl im Kultus der Griechen”’, AS 10: 313-5.

Causality & Force: Fundamental Categories of the Social

Causality and force are fundamental categories that Mauss and Hubert discuss in their essay on magic (1904). In the anthology, we publish a preliminary study by Mauss that has recently been edited and commented on by Jean-François Bert and Nicolas Meylan. Mauss shows how magic as a social phenomenon produces certain ideas of power and causality, which in turn are based on the general idea of mana. It is this idea that ultimately makes descriptions of efficacy – whether scientific or religious – possible. The genesis of the category of causality is therefore a social phenomenon. Mauss’s reviews (Mauss 1903b; 1905b; 1910b; 1910a) illustrate that the theory of effervescence, which Durkheim makes prominent in the Elementary Forms, is also based on Mauss’s preliminary work.

Central Text

Réduction des divers éléments de la magie à la notion de pouvoir et de force

in: Revue du Mauss, n°45, 2015, L’esprit de jouer, donner, s’adonner, Paris: La Découverte, 266-296.

Marcel Mauss

 

Supplementary Texts

  • Mauss, M. 1906. ‘Note sur la nomenclature des phénomènes religieux’, AS 9: 248- [Oeuvres I, 40-42]
  • Mauss, M. 1910. ‘Review J. Spieth (1906), “Die Ewestàmme”; A. G. Léonard (1906), “The Lower Niger and its Tribes”; L. Desplagnes (1907), “Le Plateau central nigérien”; M. Delafosse (1908-09), ”Le peuple Siena ou Senufo”’, AS 11: 136-148 [Oeuvres II, 175-184, 112-113].
  • Mauss, M. 1910. ‘Review A. C. Kruyt (1906), “Het Animisme in den Indischen Archipel”’, AS 11: 214-218. [Oeuvres II, 171-175].
  • Mauss, M. 1903. ‘Review T. Achelis (1902), “Die Extase”’, AS 6: 176-180. [Oeuvres I, 391-395.]
  • Mauss, M. 1905. ‘Review O. Stoll (1904), “Suggestion und Hypnotismus in der Voelkerpsychologie”’, AS 8: 233-234 [Oeuvres II, 395-396].

Time: The Genesis of the ›Operating System‹ of Societies

Henri Hubert study on the genesis of the category of time (Hubert 1905) has not yet been published in German. The multitude of reviews that include Roman, Celtic, Germanic, Greek and Native American rites, myths and annual cycles (Hubert 1901e; 1901a; 1901b; 1901d; 1902; 1903b; 1905; Mauss 1904b; 1904a) provide an insight in the extensive preparation of this text. Mauss’s review  (Mauss 1907b) and his letters to Hubert (Mauss 1905a) position the text within the Durkheimian school and its relation to philosophy. In particular, the determination of time in Bergsonian terms gave rise to discussion between the ‘working twins’ Mauss and Hubert. Hubert, however, manages to sociologise Bergson’s conception of time without losing sight of the Durkheimian agenda. The category of time is an expression of social rhythm and therefore serves, as Jean-François Isambert writes, as an ‘operating system’ of society.

Central Text

Essay on time. A brief study of the representation of time in religion and magic

Henri Hubert

 (1905. ‘Étude sommaire de la représentation du temps dans la religion et dans la magie’, Annuaire de l’École pratique des Hautes-Études, Section des Sciences Religieuses, 1-39.)

Supplementary Texts

  • Mauss, M. ‘Review H. Hubert, “Étude sommaire de la représentation du temps dans la religion et dans la magie” (in Annuaire de l’École pratique des hautes études, section des sciences religieuses, 1905), AS 10: 302-305. [Oeuvres I, 50-52.]
  • Hubert, H. 1901. ‘Review W.W. Fowler (1899) “The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic”’, AS 4: 234-239.
  • Hubert, H. 1901. ‘Review A. Tille (1899), “Yule and Christmas …”’, AS 4: 240-1.
  • Hubert, H. 1901. ‘Review G. Bilfinger (1899), “Untersuchungen zur Zeitrechnung der alten Germanen …”’, AS 4: 241-44.
  • Hubert, H. 1901. ‘Review M. Höfler (1899), “Das Jahr im Oberbayrischen Volksleben …”’, AS 4: 244-5.
  • Hubert, H. 1902. ‘Introduction (à la section “Le Rituel”)’, AS 5: 247-248.
  • Hubert, H. 1902. ‘Review G. Saint-Clair (1901). “Myths of Greece” und Z. Nuttall (1902), “The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilization”’, AS 5: 248-52.
  • Hubert, H. 1902. ‘Review K.A.H. Kellner (1901), “Heortologie oder das Kirchenjahr …”’, AS 5: 252-256.
  • Hubert, H. 1902. ‘Introduction to „IV Représentations Religieuses“’, AS 5: 269.
  • Hubert, H. 1903. ‘Summary of “Les mythes”’, AS 6: 268-71.
  • Mauss, M. 1904. ‘Review J. Mooney (1902), “Calendar History of the Kiowa Indians”’, AS 7: 282-285. [Oeuvres II, 169-171].
  • Mauss, M. 1904. ‘Review J. W. Fewkes (1902), “Notes on Tusayan… Cérémonies”; J. W. Fewkes (1902), “Minor Hopi Festivals”; G. A. Dorsey und R. V. Voth (1902), “The Mishongnovi Cérémonies…”; J. W. Fewkes (1902); “Sky God Personation…”’, AS 7: 285-288 [Oeuvres II, 91-94]

Rhythm & Space: Discovering the Morphology of the Social Body

The categories of rhythm, space (Hubert 1901c) and quantity are studied through the lense of social morphology  (Durkheim 1899; Mauss 1903, 1904, 1907; Mauss and Beuchat 1906). Especially the study on the Seasonal Variations of the Eskimo argues against ethno-geographical determinism, but rather shows that the notion of space originates in social relations. The discussion of the notion of social density (e.g. concentrated society in the winter, dispersed in the summer) provides the idea of a law of the rhythm of social life.

Central Text

Seasonal Variations of the Eskimo. A Study in Social Morphology.

Marcel Mauss and Henri Beuchat.

(1906. ‘Essai sur les variations saisonnières des sociétés Eskimos, Étude de morphologie sociale’, AS 9: 48-132.)

 

Supplementary Texts

  • Durkheim, É. 1899. ‘Sixième Section, Morphologie Sociale’, AS 2: 520-521.
  • Mauss, M. 1903. ‘Rezension von F. B. Gummere (1901), “The Beginnings of Poetry”’, AS 6: 560-565 [Oeuvres II, 251-255].
  • Mauss, M. 1907. ‘Rezension von H. Nissen (1906), “Orientation”, AS 10: 300-301 [Oeuvres II, 313-314].
  • Hubert, H. 1901. ‘Rezension von K. Büchner (1899), “Arbeit und Rhythmus”’, AS 4: 591-592.
  • Mauss, M. 1904. ‘Rezension von F. Boas (1901), “The Eskimo of Baffin Land…” und E. W. Nelson (1902), “The Eskimo about Bering Strait”’, AS 7: 225-230 [Oeuvres III, 68-73].

Totality: Presenting the New Epistemology of the Social

The centrepiece of Durkheim’s epistemology is certainly The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (Durkheim 1912, 2017). We have included excerpts dealing with the cateogories in this anthology. The numerous preparatory works on totemism show the extent to which this book is also an expression of a collective effort by the Durkheim-School. Totemism serves as a leading hypothesis for the entire group. To mark his independence from other approaches to religious phenomena, Durkheim adds self-reviews of the Elementary Forms to the reviews by Lévy-Bruhl and Frazer (Durkheim 1913b; Mauss and Durkheim 1913). This practice of self-review indicates the necessity for the Durkheimians to repeatedly explain their positions and methodology, to distinguish themselves and, above all, to clarify misunderstandings.

Central Texts

Excerpts from The Elementary Forms of Religious Life

Émile Durkheim

(1912. Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse, le système totémique en Australie. Paris: Alcan

[Totality. Book 2, chap. 7: Origin of the Notion of Totemic Principle or mana;

Causality: Book 3, chap. 3: Mimetic Rites and the Principle of Causality

Conclusion

 

Introduction to the Analysis of some Religious Phenomena

Henri Hubert und Marcel Mauss

(1908. ‘Introduction à l’analyse de quelques phénomènes religieux’, RHR 58, 163-203 [Oeuvres II, 195-227])

Supplementary Texts

  • Hertz, R. ‘Rezension von Hubert und Mauss (1909) “Mélanges d’histoire des religions”’, RHR 60: 218-220.
  • Durkheim, É. 1976 [1908]. ’Lettre à Xavier Léon du 24 Juillet 1908’, in: Durkheim, Émile, Textes 2, religion, morale, anomie, Les éditiond de minuit, Paris, 466-468.
  • Durkheim, É. 1909. ‘Sociologie religieuse et théorie de la connaissance’, Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale 17 (6), 733-758.
  • Mauss, M. 1900. ‘Rezension von B. Spencer und F. Gillen (1899), “The Native Tribes of Central Australia”’, AS 3: 205-215. [Oeuvres II, 403-412.]
  • Durkheim, É. 1900. ‘Rezension von B. Spencer und F.-J. Gillen (1899), “The native tribes of northern Australia”’, AS 3: 330-6.
  • Mauss, M. 1905. ‘Rezension von B. Spencer und F. Gillen (1904), “The Northern Tribes of Central Australia”, AS 8: 242-252 [Oeuvres II, 412-421].
  • Bougle, C. und É. Durkheim. ‘Einleitung zur Rubrik “Les conditions sociologiques de la connaissance“’, AS 11: 41-2.
  • Durkheim, É. 1910. ‘Rezension von Jerusalem (1909): “Soziologie des Erkennens”´, AS 11: 42-45.
  • Durkheim, É. 1913. ‘Rezension von L. Lévy-Bruhl (1910), “Les fonctions mentales dans les sociétés inférieures” und É. Durkheim (1912), “Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse”’, AS 12: 33-7.
  • Mauss, M. und É. Durkheim. ‘Rezension von J. G. Frazer (1911), “Totemism and Exogamy” und É. Durkheim (1912), “Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse”, AS 12: 91-98. [Oeuvres I, 183-189].
  • Hubert, H. 1979 [1915]. ‘Texte autobiographique de Henri Hubert’. Revue française de sociologie 20 (1): 205-207.
  • Halbwachs, M. 1918. ‘La doctrine d’Émile Durkheim’, Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Etranger85: 353-411.

The Category Project in Discussion I: Philosophy

This part of the anthology covers the entire historical and systematic development of the category project and shows how priorities have changed and institutional difficulties have been overcome. The discussion of Durkheim in the Société française de la philosophie (Durkheim 1913a) testifies to the conflict with philosophy and reveals that Durkheim had to fight against misunderstandings. The controversies with philosophers were conducted in many different ways on the basis of various phenomena: the discussion of the relationship between freedom and language (Mauss 1921) and of Lévy-Bruhl’s theory (Mauss 1969) are particularly exemplary. In both cases, Mauss vehemently defends the thesis of the social origin of categories. The Durkheimians also took note of international developments in social and religious philosophy, as can be seen in the reviews of Ranulf, Cassirer, Ogden and Scheler (Mauss 1925b; 1925a).

Central Text

The Religious Problem and the Duality of Human Nature

Émile Durkheim

(1913. ‘Le problème religieux et la dualité de la nature humaine’, Bulletin de la Société française de Philosophie 13: 63-113.)

Supplementary Texts

  • Mauss, M. ‘Rezension von Ogden and Richards (1923) “The Meaning of Meaning”, Ranulf (1924) “Der Eleatische Satz vom Widerspruch” und Cassirer (1923) “Philosophie der Symbolischen Formen”, NAS 1: 256-260 [Oeuvres III, 258-262].
  • Mauss, M. 19 ‘Rezension von O. Grundler (1922), “Elémente zu einer Religionsphilosophie…”; J. Geyser (1924), “Max Schelers Phänomenologie der Religion…”, NAS 1:381-383. [Oeuvres I, 157-159].
  • Mauss, M. 1921. ‘Contribution à la discussion sur la présentation de M. Louis Weber “Liberté et langage”’, BSP 21: 100-103 [Oeuvres II, 121-125].
  • Mauss, M. 1923. ‘Contribution à la discussion sur la présentation de M. Lucien Lévy-Bruhl “La mentalité primitive”’, BSP 23: 24-29 [Oeuvres II, 125-131].

The Category Project in Discussion II: Psychology

While psychology was still primarily perceived as a rival before the First World War, in Rapports réels Mauss describes it as a discipline that contributes significantly to the study of the total human being. He remains, however, adamant that a clear distinction  between the different scientific approaches must be maintained (Mauss 1924; 1933). Mauss thus opened sociology up to psychology (he was, after all, president of the Société de Psychologie in 1923), but was also aware that sociology must retain the prerogative of studying collective phenomena.

Central Text

Real and Practical Relations between Psychology and Sociology

Marcel Mauss

1924. ‘Rapports réels et pratiques de la psychologie et de la sociologie’, JP 21: 892-922.

Supplementary Texts

Mauss, M. 1933 [1931]. ‘Contributions aux discussions sur les présentations de M. Pierre Janet “L’individualité en psychologie” et de Jean Piaget »L’individualité en histoire, l’individu et la formation de la raison«, in: Centre international de synthèse, Troisième semaine international de synthèse: l’individualité, 51-56, 117-121 [Oeuvres III, 298-302].)

 

The Category Project in Discussion III: Linguistics

From the outset, linguistics was a field that provided the Durkheimians with empirical material and was of great importance for the development of their theses. In addition to Mauss, it was above all the linguist Antoine Bianconi whose work provided important impulses for the study of the categories in Africa (Bianconi 1910; 1913; Mauss 1907a; 1913). Mauss’s intensive engagement with linguistics is evident, among other things, in his discussions with Charles Serrus and Antoine Meillet (Mauss 1923; 1934a). Meillet, who had been responsible for the ‘Linguistics’ section in L’année sociologique since the fifth issue and was Mauss’s teacher, made the relationship between social and linguistic phenomena the focus of his observations. Language was understood as a social phenomenon.

Central Texts

The feminin genus

Marcel Mauss

Contribution à la discussion sur la présentation de M. Antoine Meillet “Le genre féminin dans les langues européennes”’, JP 20: 943-947.

Contribution to the Discussion of the Presentation of Charles Serrus

Marcel Mauss

1934. ‘Contribution à la discussion sur la présentation de M. Charles Serrus “La psychologie de l’intelligence et la linguistique”’, BSP 34: 33-37.

Supplementary Texts

  • Bianconi, A. 1910. ‘Rezension von Pechuel-Loesche (1907), “Die Loango-Expedition, III”’, AS 11: 218-227.
  • Bianconi, A. 1913. ‘Rezension von Dennett (1911), “Notes on West African Categories”’, AS 12: 37-40.
  • Mauss, M.  1913. ‘Rezension von R. E. Dennett (1910), “Nigerian Studies”’, AS 12: 147-149.
  • Mauss, M. 1907. ‘Rezension von Dennett (1906) “At the Back of the Black Man’s Mind”’, AS 10: 305-311.

Space & Rhythm: Studying the Reciprocity of Cosmology and Space

This part of the anthology presents the important and so far untranslated (both in English and German) article Le morcellement de l’étendue et sa limitation dans la religion et la magie by Stefan Czarnwoski (Czarnowski 1925), which examines the quality and relationality of religious space. The complementarity of this text with Hubert’s study on time is revealed, among other things, in letters from Czarnowski, a student of Hubert’s, to his teacher. Robert Hertz’s text Le culte alpestre de St. Besse examines the category of space in the Piemont as early as 1913 (Hertz 1913). Granet’s study of right and left in China refers back to Hertz’s study of the right and left hand. Granet takes up Hertz’s thesis again and applies it to the conception of space in China. Taken together, the studies of the Durkheimians show how space is a category that is essentially linked to social practices, which in turn interact with the prevailing cosmology.

Central Texts

Le morcellement de l’étendue et sa limitation dans la religion et la magie

Stefan Czarnowski

(1925) Actes du Congrès international d’histoire des religions: tenu à Paris en octobre 1923: 341-359

Saint Besse, étude d’un culte alpestre

Robert Hertz

in: RHR 67 (2): 115-180.

La droite et la gauche en Chine

Marcel Granet

(1933)Bulletin de l’institut français de sociologie 3 (3): 87-116.

Supplementary Texts

  • Czarnowski, S. 2015 [1922]. ‚Lettre de Stefan Czarnowski à Henri Hubert, Varsovie, 24 avril 1922‘, in S. Carnowski, Lettres à Henri Hubert et à Marcel Mauss. Warschau: Oficyna Naukowa, 245-249
  • Czarnowski, S. 2015 [1923]. ‚Lettre de Stefan Czarnowski à Henri Hubet, Varsovie, 5 septembre 1923‘, in S. Carnowski, Lettres à Henri Hubert et à Marcel Mauss. Warschau: Oficyna Naukowa, 271-275.
  • Mauss, M. 1910. ‘Rezension von A. Van Gennep (1909), “Les Rites de passage”, AS 11: 200-202. [Oeuvres I, 553-555].

Substance – Soul – Person

Soul, substance and person are concepts that are closely linked in Western intellectual history. Following the logic of the Category Project, the questions of what a substance is, who and what is animated and who is declared a person cannot be adequately answered by means of an epistemology that already assumes a subject It is therefore necessary to understand the genesis of these categories as a historical-cultural process. The category of the person can already be found in the first issues of the Année Sociologique (Hubert 1900). However, Mauss only worked on lectures on the person in the late 1920s and 1930s (Mauss 1929). This work culminates in the text on the person (Mauss 1938), which is particularly influential for phenomenology. The text Conceptions that preceded the concept of matter (2015 [1941]) can be seen as the end of the Category Project. Mauss’s study of the Vedic concept Anna-Viraj shows how rhythm and substance represent ideal social orders and have an impact on Brahmanic philosophy. Mauss also suggests this recursive relationship for European intellectual history (Mauss 1911).

Central Texts

A Category of the Human Mind: The Notion of the Person and the ‘I’

Marcel Mauss

(1938. ‘Une catégorie de l’esprit humain: La notion de personne celle de “moi”’, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 68: 263-281 [Sociologie et anthropologie, 331-362].)

Conceptions, that have preceded the notion of matter

Marcel Mauss

1945 [1939]. ‘Conceptions qui ont précédé la notion de matière’. in: Onzieme semaine international de synthèse, PUF, Paris, 15-23 + Diskussion [Oeuvres II, 161-168].

Anna Viraj

Marcel Mauss

(1911) in: Mélanges d’indianisme offerts par ses élèves à M. Sylvain Lévi, Paris: Leroux, S. 333-341 [Oeuvres II, 593-600].

Supplementary Texts

  • Hubert, H. ‘Review A. Negrioli (1900), “Dei Genii presso i Romani”’ LS 5: 269-72.
  • Mauss, M. 1929. ‘Contribution à la discussion sue la présentation de M. Lucien Lévy-Bruhl “L’âme primitive”’, BSP 29: 124-127 [Oeuvres II, 131-135].
  • Czarnowski, S. 1930 [1929]. ‘Le dieu créateur des cosmogonie polynésiennes’,  Actes du Ve Congrès International d’Histoire des Religions: 104-106.
  • Mauss, M. 1935a. ‘Religions des peuples non civilisés’ Compte rendu des conférences 1933-1934, Annuaire de l’École pratique des hautes études, Section des sciences religieuses 1933-1934, 20-25.
  • Mauss, M. 1936. ‘Religions des peuples non civilisés’ Résumé des conférences 1935-1936, Annuaire de l’École pratique des hautes études, Section des sciences religieuses 1935-1936, 29-34.
  • Mauss, M. 1937. ‘Religions des peuples non civilisés’ Résumé des conférences 1936-1937, Annuaire de l’École pratique des hautes études, Section des sciences religieuses 1936-1937, 25-33.