Journal of Iranian Social Studies

Comparative Study of the Social Responsibility of Benevolence and Altruism .in Durkheim, Singer and Žižek's System of Thought

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Gholamreza Ghaffary 1
Jamshid Mirzaei 2
Sara Mazinani Shariati 3

1 Professor of Department of Sociology at University of Tehran

2 Lecturer, Department of Social Studies, Farhangian University of Tehran Province

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran

https://doi.org/10.22034/jss.2025.2018667.1818
Abstract
Social  responsibility  shows  that humans,  as  social beings,  cannot be  indifferent  to  the  lives of their fellows. In the relationship altruistic actions and social thought, it should be said that  these  actions  have  always  been  a  suitable  subject  for  thinking  throughout  the  history  of social  thought. Sociologist Durkheim, moral philosopher Singer, and political philosopher Žižek are among the thinkers who have theorized about the social responsibility of altruism. The present study aims to analyze the social responsibility of altruism in the intellectual system of these three thinkers with a comparative approach.
This research was conducted with a comparative approach, following the qualitative tradition, and was case-based, with a small number of cases, or small N (focusing on three thinkers).
After examining the works of these three thinkers, 10 components (the problematic of the thinker, the importance and necessity of social justice, the thinker's association and empathy with charity and philanthropy, the negative aspects of charity and philanthropy, etc.) were identified and analyzed in a comparative manner.
Drawing the intellectual system of the three selected thinkers on a continuum shows that Singer (with a positive, affirmative, optimistic, and hopeful approach) is placed on the right, Žižek (with a refusal, aggressive, negativity, and pessimistic approach) is placed on the left, and Durkheim (with a conditional, critical, and moral approach) is placed in the middle.

Keywords

Social responsibility
comparative approach
benevolence
Durkheim
Singer
Žižek
 
Abend, G. (2008). Two Main Problems in the Sociology of Morality. Theory and Society, 37(2), 87–125.
Barthorpe, W. Mitchell, G.S. and Loveley, R. (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility and Economic Behavior. Economic Research Quarterly, Vol. 11 (3) 103-114.
Chandler, Charles R (1984). Durkheim and individualism: A comment on messner. Social force, Vol. 63, N.2
Douzinas, C. and Zizek, S. (2010). The Idea of Communism, London: Verso
Durkheim, E (1949). The Division of Labor in Society, Book 1, Ch. 2, trans. George Simpson. lencoe, IL: The Free Press.
Durkheim, E. (2009). Socialism and Saint-Simon (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
Hitlin, S., & Vaisey, S. (2013). The new sociology of morality. Annual review of sociology, 39(1), 51-68.‏
Roscoe, P. (2006). The Comparative Method, Pp. 25-46 In book: The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion , R. A. Segal (ed.), Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Schuyt, T., Smit, J., & Bekkers, R. (2013). Constructing a philanthropy-scale: Social responsibility and philanthropy. Order, 501(5704), 10-2139.
Mahoney, J. and Rueschemeyer, D. (2003). Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Singer, P. (1972). Famine, Affluence, and Morality. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 1(3), 229–243.
Singer, P.) 2015 .( Famine, Affluence, and Morality, Oxford University Press.
،،،Philosophers' Magazine Publisher: Philosophy Documentation Center Issue: 73, Page: 60-61, URL: 10.5840/tpm20167374.
Singer, P. (2019). The life you can save: How to do your part to end world poverty. The Life You Can Save. org.‏
Smelser, N. J. (2003). On Comparative Analysis, Interdisciplinary and Internationalization in Sociology, International Sociology, Vol 18(4): 643–657.
Thompson, S. (2021). Corporate Social Responsibility (Sociology).​ Published By: EBSCO host, https://www.ebsco.com/
Zizek, S. (1999). The Ticklish Subject: The Absent Centre of Political Ontology, London: Verso Books.
Zizek, S. (2006). The Parallax View, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press
Zizek, S. (2008). Violence: Six Sideways Reflections, London: Picador
Zizek, S. (2008). In Defense of Lost Causes, London: Verso Books.
Zizek, S. (2009). First As Tragedy, Then As Farce, London: Verso Books.
Zizek, S. (2010). Living in the End Times, London: Verso Books.
Zizek, S. (2019). The sublime object of ideology, London:  Verso Books.
Journal of Iranian Social Studies
Volume 18, Issue 4
Winter 2025
Pages 105-132

  • Receive Date 05 June 2024
  • Revise Date 11 May 2025
  • Accept Date 29 September 2025
  • First Publish Date 29 September 2025
  • Publish Date 19 February 2025

Home

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us