Emile Durkheim



History:
Emile Durkheim is from France, which is located in Europe. He was a great contributor to the nineteenth century. His work on sociology was greatly noticed during the late nineteenth century. Two figures that helped shaped Durkheim's perceptions includes Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges and Emile Bortroux. Without understanding history, a full appreciation of Emile Durkheim's works in impossible. Emile Durkheim's work was predominantly noted during the time period when much of the functionalist's perspectives were used/considered. At the time much of his work on religion was popular as well as his work on society. Since Durkheim had not outlived WWI, WWI had a great impact on many of his views. The process of political and cultural assimilation was reflected in his fascination with the conditions of social stability and the manner in which a person acquires a sense of purpose through society. He was also influenced by the Paris Commune of 1871 and the Third Republic (Smith 1997).

Biography:
Emile Durkheim was born in Epinal (Vosges) in his ancient province of Lorraine on April15th, 1858. At a young age he studied Hebrew and acquired a familiarity with the old Testament and with Talmudic and Hebraic lore. He renounced his religious ambitions at an early age partly due to the influence exercised on him by a Catholic instructress. This may have influenced his work on religion.
Durkheim received his first formal education at the College d'Epinal in his native city. He was a young brilliant lad who skipped several grades. Due to his remarkable success at the College d'Epinal he pursued for the profession of teaching and therefore went to Paris where he continued his studies at Lycee Louis-le-Grand. In 1879 he was excepted into Ecole Normale Superieure. At Ecole Normale Superieure Durkheim did not make many friends, but the ones that he did have he manifested a devotion, loyalty, and attachment that were profoundly rooted. There was his classmate Hommay, his most intimate companion who was killed accidentally only a few years after their graduation. There was Jaures, the great Socialist leader.There was Hamelin, Durkheim's brilliant colleague at Bordeaux, who was drowned in an effort to save the life of others. The death of these three men caused the inwardly sensitive and kindly Durkheim no end of grief. The death of his friend that committed suicide may have influenced his study on suicides. A lot of his work may be reflected due to the lack of his friends and/or the influence of the friends that he did make. At the Ecole Normale, there were only a few professors that Durkheim was fond of, Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges, and Emile Boutroux. These two teachers were real sources of inspiration to him (Alpert 1961: 15-25)."From Fustel he learned the importance of religion in the formation of social institutions and discovered that the sacred could be studied rationally and objectively. From Boutroux he learned that atomism, the reduction of phenomena to their smallest constituent parts, was a fallacious methodological procedure and that each science must explain phenomena in terms of its own specific principles. These ideas eventually formed the philosophical foundations of Durkheim's sociological method" (Biography 2008).
In 1887, almost 8 years after being excepted into Ecole Normale Superieure, Durkheim married Louise Dreyfus and later they had two children.Durkheim died in 1917.

Areas of Study:
Emile Durkheim had many areas of study. In his Division of Labor in Society (1893), he discussed the distinction between mechanical and organic solidarity, and the equation of social solidarity. He abandoned both as neither one of these ideas he discussed further. His next work was The Rules of Sociological Method (1895). In this, he explained the methodological principles that were to guide all his following studies. After this, he wrote Suicide (1897), in which he combined theoretical insight with masses of empirical data. His last work was The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912). This was a very scientific approach to religion, and fused sociological and religious materials in the sociology field. He stated that religion performs an integrative role in society, by using a cult, rite, symbol, and of course, religion as a whole.

Some other ideas of Durkheim included deviance and marriage. Emile Durkheim thought that rapid social change and lack of social integration among people is the root of deviance. Durkheim believed that the late 1800s social disorder was due to the shift from mechanical to organic solidarity. He believed that crime and deviance increased as social integration decreased. Durkheim believed that deviant behavior is a common and unavoidable part of all societies. His view actually seems good considering that he believes that deviance has positive social functions in terms of its consequences. Durkheim believed that marriage is a replica of larger society because both marriage and society involve a mental and moral fusion of individuals. He also thought that a division of labor contributes to smoother efficiency in marriages, families, and any other age in life.

Theories:
One of Durkheim’s most famous theories is his functional theory of ritual. Durkheim’s basic theory of religion is that religion is a form of an expression of social realities. He allows religion to be easily understood by substituting reality for symbol. By doing so, he is able to determine the social purposes of the sacred symbolic manner.According to the theory, there are four especially important social functions of a ritual: a disciplinary and preparatory function, a cohesive function, a revitalizing function, and a euphoric function. A disciplinary and preparatory function means that rituals prepares an individual for social life by putting on the person the self-discipline that is essential for life in society. The cohesive function of a ritual is that ceremony reaffirm people’s common bonds, and enhances social solidarity. The revitalizing function is that ceremonies and rituals are vital for reanimating the social heritage of a group. The fourth main function of a ritual is that it establishes social euphoria: a pleasant feeling of social well-being.

Another theory that Durkheim created typologies about changes in social structure. He dubbed the term mechanical solidarity which describes a preindustrial society where people were brought together because of similar values and "social bonds" (Kendall 2007; 114) and there is little division of labor. Along with this, he also discusses organic solidarity which describes the bonds that form after the industrial revolution when people feel together because they rely on each other for necessary goods.

Durkheim’s Ethical Theory is also well-known. He believes that the ethical theory must begin with the moral judgments made in society. In order to accomplish this, it is necessary to study the psychological and social conditions in which they come about, or the influence it has on conduct or social institutions. He believes that moral rules imply the notion of obligation, meaning that they are obeyed only out of respect for them. He also states that the act must appeal to our sensibility as pleasing. Durkheim also believes that all moral activity is directed towards society. It is directed towards society not for the services it gives to the individual, but for the devotion to society.

In his Suicide work, he stated that there are three modes by which society becomes the chief determinant of an individual to commit suicide. One is egoistic suicide: when the togetherness in groups of people declines so much that support to the ego is no longer offered. Another is anomic suicide: suicide caused by the sudden change, or the breakdown of set values. The third is altruistic suicide: when an individual is led to commit suicide because he thinks that he has done something that has brought shame upon his social relationship.

Detractors:
One detractor of Durkheim was E.B. Taylor, he opposed some of the ideas that Durkheim offered about religion. As seen above, Durkheim believed religion to be based on rituals and does not believe that religion is based on an illusion. Taylor however, disagreed, and stated belief in the theory of Animism. He stated that religion, particularly Christianity, was more of a mythology rather that a truth that many people believed it to be. He simply thought that religion was necessary for people to believe in, but not necessarily true. (Saler, 1997; 1-6)

Another Detractor of Durkheim was a man named James Buchanan. He argued against Durkheim's theory that rules are inherent to contracts and are not created due to contracts. He argues instead that rules "emerge contractually from the rational utility-maximization of individuals" (Buchanan 2000; 96.)


Relevance:
Emile Durkheim's theories are still used by sociologists today. One particular area that Durkheim uniquely studied was sociologically analyzing suicide. He thought of suicides as a measure of "the health of the social body" (Pope 1982: 9-10) which was a different way of looking at suicide than any other philosopher before him. He had a lot of good research methods that analyzed not only where suicides were taking place but how society was impacting their numbers. One of the main points derived from his research is that individual actions, like suicide, are based on the relationship a person has with social forces around us.

Suicide ties in with other research that Durkheim did which is still in use today. He also analyzed deviance from a functionalist perspective, claiming that if change happened quickly in society, and there is a lesser social cohesion, then deviance is more likely to occur. He highlighted this with the term anomie which is "a social condition in which people experience a sense of futility because social norms are weak." (Kendall 2007; 163) This term is still prevalently used by sociologists today.

Durkheim ideas are also many times Functionalist perspectives in sociology today. Representative by our textbook, his deviance perspectives are very functionalist.

Supplemental Information on Emile Durkheim:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfjycYvlZGg
This was a lecture given at Cambridge University by Alan Macfarlane in 2001on Durkheim and some of his more major contributions to the world.

Sources

Alpert, Harry 1961. Emile Durkheim and His Sociology, edited by the faculty of political science of Columbia University. New York: Russell & Russell.
"Biography: Emile Durkheim ." 2008. answers.com.
<http://www.answers.com/topic/emile-durkheim>.
Buchanan, J., 2000: The Limits of Liberty: Between Anarchy and Leviathan. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.
Kendall, Diana 2007. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials, 6th Edition. Pp 163, edited by Robert Jucha. Thompson Learning Inc.
Nisbet, Robert A. 1965. Emile Durkheim. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Pickering, William 2001. "Emile Durkheim." Pp. 165-169 in Fifty Major Thinkers in Education, edited by Joy A. Palmer. New York, NY: Routledge.
Pope, Whitney 1982.Durkheim's Suicide A Classic Analyzed, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Saler, Bensen 1997. "E.B. Tyler and the Anthropology of Religion." Pp. 1-6 in Marburg Journal of Religion.
Smith, Roger, and Roger Guenveur Smith 1997. The Norton History of Human Science .
N.p.: W. W. Norton and Company.


1. History – What nation is the theorist from? What time period? What events and noteworthy figures perhaps helped to shape their perceptions? What ideas were prevalent at the time?

2. Biography – What was the theorist’s personal life like? When did they live and die? Where did they work? Were they married? Who were their teachers, friends and enemies?

3. Areas of study - What was there area of primary interest? Social groupings? Deviance? Religion? Family?

4. Theories – What are each of their major theories (There should be more than one) How did they back them up with evidence? What examples did they use? Detailed descriptions are again, best.

5. Detractors – What notable sociologists present or past disagreed with your theorist and why? What evidence or argument did they use?

6. Relevance – How much of the theory introduced by your theorist is still in use today? Why?