Émile Durkheim

French sociologist (1858–1917)

David Émile Durkheim (April 15, 1858 – November 15, 1917) was a French sociologist. He is known for his contributions to sociology and anthropology. He is considered as one of the founding fathers of sociology. He thought that sociology should be scientific.

Émile Durkheim
Born
David Émile Durkheim

(1858-04-15)15 April 1858
Died15 November 1917(1917-11-15) (aged 59)
NationalityFrench
Alma materÉcole Normale Supérieure
Known forSacred–profane dichotomy
Collective consciousness
Social fact
Social integration
Anomie
Collective effervescence
Scientific career
FieldsPhilosophy, sociology, education, anthropology, religious studies
InstitutionsUniversity of Paris, University of Bordeaux
InfluencesImmanuel Kant, René Descartes, Plato, Herbert Spencer, Aristotle, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Auguste Comte. William James, John Dewey, Fustel de Coulanges, Jean-Marie Guyau, Charles Bernard Renouvier, John Stuart Mill
InfluencedMarcel Mauss, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Talcott Parsons, Maurice Halbwachs, Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, Bronisław Malinowski, Fernand Braudel, Pierre Bourdieu, Charles Taylor, Henri Bergson, Emmanuel Levinas, Steven Lukes, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Mary Douglas, Paul Fauconnet, Robert N. Bellah, Ziya Gökalp, David Bloor, Randall Collins, Neil Smelser[1]

Durkheim was born in the eastern French province of Lorraine. He studied at École Normale Supérieure. He made contributions on topics such as education, crime, religion, suicide, and many other topics related to sociology.

Durkheim died in Paris, aged 59.

Suicide

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Durkheim is famous for his work on suicide. In this, he analyzed the causes of suicide in the perspective of society.[2] His theory has two core principles:

  1. That the way people are connected to each other in a group can affect how likely they are to commit suicide;[2] and
  2. That suicide is related to how much a person feels like they belong to their community (social integration) and how much they follow the rules and beliefs of their society (moral integration).[2]

Durkheim was not interested on the individual aspect of suicide, instead, he viewed suicide as a result of a "collective breakdown of society". Moreover, he viewed it as a symptom of the large issues in society.[2]

Functions of a society

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Durkheim believed that society is built on shared rules and values. These rules help to keep society functioning smoothly. For example, institutions like schools, families, and governments, play a key role in upholding these rules and values. They're not just about practical things like education or law enforcement; they also help to shape our morals and beliefs.[3]

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Other websites 

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References

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  1. Alexander, Jeffrey C.; Marx, Gary T.; Williams, Christine L. (2004). "Trust as an Aspect of Social Structure". In Alexander, Jeffrey C.; Marx, Gary T.; Williams, Christine L. (eds.). Self, Social Structure, and Beliefs: Explorations in Sociology. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. pp. 145–146. ISBN 978-0-520-24137-4.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Mueller, Anna S.; Abrutyn, Seth; Pescosolido, Bernice; Diefendorf, Sarah (2021-03-31). "The Social Roots of Suicide: Theorizing How the External Social World Matters to Suicide and Suicide Prevention". Frontiers in Psychology. 12. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.621569. ISSN 1664-1078. PMC 8044307. PMID 33868089.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  3. Neuhouser, Frederick, ed. (2022), "Durkheim: Solidarity, Moral Facts, and Social Pathology", Diagnosing Social Pathology: Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, and Durkheim, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 192–228, ISBN 978-1-009-23503-7, retrieved 2024-10-24