Durkheim Is Dead! Macro vs. Micro Beliefs Essay

He believed that particular and distinguishing traits form in a group of people who communicate and relate to one another, and thus forming several types of individuals. Simmel concluded that a society is no more than the individuals who make it up; he also emphasized that people in groups of differing sizes interact differently with one another. He shares some similarities to Durkheim when regarding the problem between the individual and society. To him, sociology is more than the discovery and analysis of the natural laws that conduct human interaction, it must study the different aspects of phenomena in groups rather than larger, more global occurrences. Simmel prioritizes the interactions happening at the individual level and the small group level since, according to him, the social group in which the individuals belong to represent the natural separation as human

Sociology came into existence in the nineteenth century, a fairly new principle than other social sciences. Auguste Comte, a French philosopher, used the term sociology to study society in an approach different from other fields, and that it can be studied systematically. Its main focus is to study social structures by analyzing, evaluating, and critiquing the social aspects of society (Dillon 2014:12-13; 17). Classical sociological theories were mainly referring to works of Auguste Comte, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and some other more. The works of these classical sociological theorists gave ideas and inspirations to the modern and post-modern theorists in different parts of the world. One sociological theory is structural functionalism, a macro-level analysis. Emile Durkheim and Robert Merton are both functional theorists, classical and contemporary respectively. Being both functionalists, similarities can be observed in the theories that they have developed such as using the concept of anomie, a condition where there is absence of norms; there are some differences in their use. Additionally, Merton criticized most beliefs that classical structural functionalism had established.

Emile Durkheim, was a French sociologist. His theories and writings helped establish the foundations of modern sociology. Durkheim disagreed with most social theorists of the late 1800 's because they thought that individual psychology was the basis of sociology. Durkheim regarded sociology as the study of the society that surrounds and influences the individual. Durkheim explained his theories in his book The Rules of Sociological Method (1895). He says there is relationship between moral values and religious beliefs, which establishes unity in society.Emile Durkheim has long been viewed as one of the founders of the so called variables oriented approach to sociological investigation. Durkheim developed the theory that societies are bound together by two sources of unity. He called these sources mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity. Mechanical solidarity refers to similarities that many people in the society share, such as values and religious beliefs. Organic solidarity results from the division of labor into specialized jobs. Durkheim believed that the division of labor makes people depend on one another and thus helps create unity in a society. Durkheim studied thousands of cases of suicide to demonstrate his theory that a person commits suicide because of the

Sociologists develop theories to explain and analyze society at different levels and from different perspectives. Sociologists study everything from the micro level of analysis of small social patterns to the “big picture” which is the macro level of analysis of large social patterns.

Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber are all important characters to be studied in the field of Sociology. Each one of these Sociological theorists, help in the separation of Sociology into its own field of study. The works of these three theorists is very complex and can be considered hard to understand but their intentions were not. They have their similarities along with just as many of their differences.

In DHN, Durkheim argues that sociology must examine what an individual consists of because it is a result of the whole society. It is this society

For Durkheim, the problem concerning modernity emerged from the move to an industrial society wherein the division of labour (increasing specialisation of occupations) led to a decrease in mechanical solidarity (social cohesion based on similarities between members of pre-industrial societies); resulting in the breakdown of the influence of social norms on individuals within a

Along with Marx and Weber, Durkheim is considered one of the founding members of modern sociology. He is also credited with making sociology a science through his application of scientific and empirical research. Durkheim believed that sociology should be seen as a science separate from other sciences such as psychology, by studying “social facts” objectively as things. (Kiviston, 2011)

Durkheim focuses on the stability of society, and discusses the social causes of suicide. His work shows how ideology contributes to stability, and he describes abnormal conditions as anomie. Durkheim states, "in normal conditions the collective order is regarded as just by the great majority of persons …[b]ut when society is disturbed by some painful crisis or by beneficent but abrupt transitions, it is momentarily incapable of exercising this influence [of limiting desires]"

As a cause and as a symptom of social hierarchies, division of labor is an integral part of the structuring of society. Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim both give very different interpretations to the effects causing, evolving, and caused by this division of labor. On one hand, Marx typically vilifies the process, finding it in large part responsible for the oppression of one group by another. On the other hand, Durkheim treats it as a unifying social force, one necessarily maintained for the betterment of all. With such contrasting viewpoints, it is difficult to decide whether this process is necessarily good or bad. In effect, the argument is how far must individual needs be sacrificed for the benefit of society, or how much society must be

The theoretical works of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber still influence sociological theory. Though their works are decades old they still are a major part of what sociology is today. Though their theories can seem very different, there are some similarities. To become a great sociologist one most learn and understands how to use all sociological perspectives. To do this one must understand and use the different theoretical perspectives created by Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.

In society, there are generally two levels of sociological analysis or theories which are also referred to as branches of sociology namely, macro and micro theories. A Macro Theory is one that analyses and focuses on major structural phenomena of society and gives us a wide understanding of how societies survive and change. On the other hand, a Micro Theory is one that studies the nature of everyday face-to-face human social interactions between individuals and how these individuals interpret the social world. Similarly, Macro Theory is interested in the broad social features of society whereas Micro Theory is interested in how human beings in the society function, interpret, change and respond accordingly to these broad social phenomena. There are

Through formal sociology Simmel was proposing an alternative way of thinking to his contemporaries. I found Simmel’s writing very paradoxical. He purposes a more qualitative method of investigation rather then the quantitative method of positivists. Simmel together with Max Weber formed the anti-positivist a movement that opposed positivism.

Durkheim is a highly influential name to remember when thinking of sociology. Durkheim’s mission was to develop sociology so it could be defined and to develop a method on how sociology should be used. Durkheim’s main concern in his career was primarily associated with how societies might preserve their integrity and rationality within modernised society, when things such as shared religious views and ethnic backgrounds are seen as things of the past. In relation to Durkheim’s social realism his concern was with the growing individualism in society. Durkheim argues that we are in an era which is imperfectly moving towards a morality based on individualism as “Durkheim regarded individualism as a collective representation, a force that

Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim have had a great influence in the development of sociology. Marx’s “Capitalism”, Weber’s “Bureaucracy” and Durkheim’s “Division of Labour” have significantly created their own spots as major and famous sociological theories.