pp. 645-666

Developments in cognitive science and neuroscience have led the social sciences to reconsider certain of the discipline’s central questions in a new light. Among these, and perhaps the most fundamental question of all, is that of causality in sociology and the methodology required to approach and study mental phenomena. This article does not claim to supply a definitive reply to this important question ; its objective is instead to demonstrate that neuroscience’s theoretical methods are far from incompatible with certain classic sociological concepts. It will deal with the way in which these can be brought into the sociological sphere to help shed light in a less speculative manner on the phenomena of socialization and, more generally, of how rules are put into practice by acquisition. The article will also examine the contributions of experimental research work and neuroimaging to this sociological debate which very much retains all its relevance today.