Sociologist. Born in Montmorency, Québec on June 24, 1927, he studied at the Petit Séminaire de Québec, then at Laval University where he obtained a degree in social sciences. He continued his studies in Paris where he obtained a doctorate in sociology at the Sorbonne. He was also made Doctor of Theology by Laval University. He spent most of his teaching career at Laval University, of which he was the director of the Department of Sociology and the Institute of Social Sciences. His scholastic career saw him also act as associated director of studies at the École des Hautes Études in Paris and also invited professor in several universities in America and Europe. He was the president and scientific director of the Institut québécois de recherche sur la culture until 1989. He was the cofounder of "Recherches sociographiques" magazine and director of "Questions de culture". He was also member of the scientific council of the Association of French-speaking universities, member of the Board of direction of the "Chaire sur la culture française en Amérique". He earned a scholarship from the Royal Society of Canada and the Killam Foundation. He was the author of a dozen books, of which four were published in Paris and were translated into English and Spanish. His work and publications concern three research sectors. He devoted several books and articles to the theory of the culture and the bases of social sciences. He wrote about the concept of legal institution and the epistemology of economic science. He dealt also with the problems of the explanation in history, with the relationship between ideology and theory, and the various aspects of the transformations of the contemporary culture. He directed a great number of collective works. Among the various honors and distinctions he received : the Book Prize of the City of Montréal, the Prize of the Governor General, the Parizeau Medal from the "Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences", the Grand Prize of literature of Québec and the Léon-Gérin Scientific Prize of Québec. He was created Officer of the National Order of Québec in 1992. In the last years of his life, he was particularly worried by the fate of Christianity in the contemporary world, so he wrote many articles on the institution of theology, trying to make the junction between his own personal concern and his interest as scholar for the philosophy of culture and social sciences.