What Is The Social Theory Of Emile Durkheim

In regards to (a) social facts, Durkheim refers to ideas, values and concepts that a society has developed over time and where each individual within this society shares. These ideas, values and concepts develop into behavioural patterns among the society and ultimately reach a point where

Pope and Johnson (1983) state that Durkheim proposed that society revitalizes individuals and gives them strength to persevere in the face of the vicissitudes of everyday life. Stones (2008), further states that Durkheim felt that we acquired all the best in ourselves and all the things that distinguish us from other animals from our social existence. Thought, language, world-views, rationality, morality and aspirations are derived from society. Thus, the unsocialised individual, the individual divorced form society, the beast within us, is a poor approximation of the highly socialised beings that constitute societies.

“ A social fact is every way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an external constraint; or again, every way of acting which is general throughout a given society, while at the same time existing in its own right independent of its individual manifestations. (Durkheim,1895/1982;13) (Ritzer, pg 76)

Please describe the impact Marx, Durkheim, & Weber had on sociology as prominent contributors of the discipline.

Tagging along with the subject of social facts, we see that Durkheim splits social facts up into two categories, which are nonmaterial and material. Material facts are known as structural components of society rather than nonmaterial, which focuses on moral and cultural components. Poverty plays a larger role in non-material social facts than material. Tying in religion that was mentioned in the above paragraph and morality, poverty is still being

Essay Question: Why is the concept of social facts so significant for Durkheim’s work? Illustrate your answer with reference to at least one of his studies.

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)

In sociology, social facts are social structures, cultural norms, and values that extend to social control. According to Durkheim, social facts are the elements of society that must exist in every society. Emile

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

Defining the concept of social forces and relations in modern society without assuming them as a derivatives of other sciences such as politics, philosophy, religion conclude us with the examination of them as the core foundation of classical sociological theory. Thus we will encounter with Durkeim, Marx and Weber’s conceptualization of social forces and relations in modern society.

Social facts have existence as a separate entity and it does not get affected by the individual behavior. In other words, social facts are the outcome of the state of the collective mind. The stress on the above feature makes sociology different from the rules of sociological method. Further, in favor of his argument Durkheim says that as an individual of the society the person inculcates automatically the behavioral deeds and actions with or without prior knowledge. No one is coercive on the imposition of laws and rules. If anyone goes against he is fined or a penalty is imposed for not obeying the laws of the society. To put forth his ideas in an effective manner he argues that society as a whole is an amalgamation of political platforms, partial groups such as literary schools, religious organizations etc which are bonded through certain sentiments. In his opinion, if the individual does not act in favor of a group and its principles that work for good cause and the betterment of the individuals and the society, he is made to face everything alone leading to atrocities and horrifying incidents.

There are many different perspectives on the growth of modernity. Society is constantly changing as more time passes by. People like Emile Durkheim and Max Weber both offer their own individual perspective on how the growth of modernity came about and how we have come to understand today’s society. In the 1890s period Emile Durkheim a sociologist, in France watched the transformation of society go from a ‘primitive’ stance into something more complex also known as ‘organic solidarity’. Max Weber a German sociologist on the other hand, his view was in regards to how the growth of government was a driving force in modernity to maintain order, organisation and administration of specialised functions. Both theses sociologists’ theories are

Where Marx saw the modern industrial world as a necessary step to freedom, Durkheim saw it as a development with specific social phenomenon which he refers to as “social facts” that needed to be studied scientifically as explained in The Division of Labor in Society. These social facts were outside the individual and were capable of exercising power over the individual and influencing behaviour.

Emile Durkheim introduced the concept of social facts explaining that “A social fact is any way of acting, whether fixed or not, capable of exerting over the individual an external constraint; or: which is general over the whole of a given society whilst having an existence of its own, independent of its individual manifestations.” (Durkheim, 1895/1982:59). In other words the ideals passed down to us that we pass down to our children, established patterns of human relations, which create a set of expectations for each individual, these differ in every society. Durkheim describes his personal experiences of social facts while performing his responsibilities, which he is obligated to do as a “brother, a husband” (Durkheim, 1982:50) although

Durkheim talked about "the rules of sociological method" and how he found out how to study social facts (Bancroft, Rogers, 2010). No matter what we do as an individual, society has its way of playing a vital role in making sure those duties are carried out "Every individual drink, sleep, eats, or employs his reason, and society has every interest in seeing that these functions are regularly exercised" (Bancroft, Rogers, 2010). Social facts have been broken down into two categories; nonmaterial and material. Material social facts are like structures and institutions, while nonmaterial are social facts that are not material realism; things like morality and values would be a fitting example.