Contribution Of Emile Durkheim Study Of Society Sociology Essay

Contribution Of Emile Durkheim Study Of Society Sociology set roundDurkheim (1858-1917) who devoted himself to the scientific engage of sociology is widely regarded as a open up in French sociology. It is kn suffer that Emile Durkheim inherits some of Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencers ideas and developed a organized sociology both in theory and methodological analysis (Moivas, 2007, p. 18). stock-still, some of his works thrust been questi ace and only(a)d and criticized. In order to examine the contribution of Emile Durkheim to the scientific study of partnership critically, one should consider Durkheims groundbreaking works including The cleavage of Labour (1893), Rules of sociological Method (1895), and Suicide (1897), all of which reflect a popular composition about one-on-oneism and a new companionable regulation in new-fangled industrial ships company (Barnes, 1920, p. 4).This canvass entrust first pull in Durkheims flavour of tender facts which run throug h and through as a regulation concept in his sociology. It will discuss its characteristics as well as importance, and then introduce Durkheims methodological approach to study amicable facts. The essay will move on to explore Durkheims contribution to the societal sciences through the use of examples which include his study of The Division of Labour and Suicide. In addition, limitations will be mentioned when examine his works. This essay will argue that in hostility of some criticism both in theories and methods. The overall contribution of Durkheim carcass one of the peaks in modern sociology.Second, sociable facts atomic number 18 outside(a) from individuals. Durkheim rejects Comtes creed to unify favorable science with other scientific disciplines and try to continue it independently. He argues that kindly facts are different from those assumptions in hoi pollois sound judgement and constant acting such as drinking or sleeping in everyday life. As a egress, one could distinguish a frame of conduct and thought out of biology and psychology and classifies it into the particular year of sociology (Allan, 2005, p. 102). Casteel (2009) considered this as an important issue to Durkheim that complete Comtes project and establish sociology as its own academic discipline. Besides, such externality also reflects on continuum and amicable facts are phase of objectivities that prior to individuals, but individuals are born into them and ordain them, and thenly social facts could be observed and measured by statistics (McCormack, 1996). However, Lukes (1973, p. 11) argues that Durkheims concepts about externality is ambiguous. For example, embodied spirites, which defined as a kind of identical and general perspectives and emotions such as religion that could react on people in an indirectly track that without crystallized forms. As is regarded as a social fact, it should be outside and independent from individuals. Nevertheless, Durkheim ap ologiseed that incorporated consciousnesses are derived from approximately individuals in a society as a assort mind thus failed to support his notion about externality.Thirdly, social facts have external coercions on individuals. It limits the choices of individuals and if individuals try to go against them, they may likely to get opposition by certain external constraint power such as public laws. Additionally, those coercive powers are not only administered by social organization but also potential moral sensory faculty which called social currents (Harrington, 2005, p.28). However, Durkheim failed to distinguish the power of coercion and prestige. For examples, the power of public law which administered by institutions composed on individuals not only by means of the bridal of legitimacy, but also fear of sanction. On the other hand, beliefs may in all probability constraint individuals through prestige or moral obligation (Lukes 1973, p. 13). Moreover, it is argued that Durkheim neglects the reaction from individuals on social facts. Some critics who challenged Durkheims theory believe that individuals could have the strength of creation on social facts (Casteel, 2009).In his book The rules of Sociological Method, Durkheim highlights the importance of study social facts as well as the methods to study them. He accepts Comtes idea that every social phenomenon should be studied as a thing within the context of society. Due to its objectivity, one could use affirmative approaches to observe, experiment, compare and analysis social phenomenon in favour of finding the sociological laws, demonstrating the normal and pathological as well as speculating the future growth of society (Craib, 1997, p.30). In Durkheim methodology of social science, he stresses the importance of spirit at society scientifically and honouring the formations (collective consciousnesses etc.) as well as functions (social cohesion, form etc.) of social facts and how they hav e effects on individuals within the scope of society (Brown, 2008). Emirbayer (1996) point out that Durkheim has rejected metaphysics and uses statistical methodology and comparative dodge (p. 264) to explore the correlations and casual relations among a number of systematic and connected variables by collecting and interpreting evidences.Durkheim has exercised his theory and methodology in 2 of his major works The Division of Labor and Suicide. In The Division of Labor, Durkheim argues that thither have other approaches to integrate the society beside religion. One of them is the division of labor, which he regarded as a powerful evidence of how social stick tos transit from collective consciousness to division of labor (Brown, 2008). Durkheim highlights the functional interdependence of different individuals or units of the society which could be explained by the term of solidarity (Allan, 2005, p. 122). In the division of labor, he illustrates two kinds of solidarity mechanica l solidarity and organic solidarity. He compared crude society and modern society using the beingnessic approach to explore how individuals maintain solidarity. In primitive society where there is low productivity, individuals are automatically bond together by the collective consciousnesses, an external uniform beliefs imposed on individuals. On the other hand, organic solidarity exists in modern society. Spencer enormously influenced Durkheims Division of Labor. Spencer believes that society was stimulated by the fundamental force of population growth, which changes the way of society to distribute production and wealth (Jones, 205, p. 345). Durkheim developed his evolutionary and organism doctrine. According to Barnes (1920, p. 240), for Durkheim, social evolution is characterized by a decrease in this repressive and mechanical type of social cohesion or solidarity and by a corresponding increase in the development of individual consciousness and record. That is, with a dense growth of population as the determinant puddle of raised intensive division of labor, individuals are more than interdependent on diverse contribution of others to perform a cooperatively function quite of the dominance of collective conscience (Sirianni, 1984). Brown (2008) points out that individualism becomes more important than the collective to maintain social solidarity and represents the characteristic of modern society.It is evidently Durkheim provide a sociological platform which benefits to interpret social process. However limitations could probably exist in his theories as well as methodology such as the cause of the division of labor and the version of its effects. Tarde (citied in Lukes, 1973, p. 304) suggests that Durkheims opinion on the division of labor only concern the social internal problem without international human relationship. Meanwhile, the division of labor could also result from variety of creation instead of population density. Moreover, Merton (1 994, p. 22) argues that in Durkheims presentation of social evolution, he diminished the effectiveness of civil law in primitive society and common interest in the modern society in order to give prominence to main power of cohesion collective consciousnesses and the division of labour, in mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity respectively. As a result, a precise relationship between solidarity and law may not be obtained. Finally, in the conclusion of his work, he personally regard the society as pathological due to the lack of social regulations that do no touch the level of the division of labor and excessive individualism during transition, it is likely to vigour the society into anomie as well as increase the felo-de-se rate (Mutchnick et al., 2009).In another significant book Suicide Durkheim explained a popular moral phenomenon in the 19th society. Suicide can be defined as every case of death which results directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act, ac complished by the victim himself which he knows must produce this result (Lukes, 1973, p. 202). Durkheim first considered felo-de-se is a private action but also as a matter of a social fact that exists external to each individual in the society. Thus, the statistics of self-annihilation could reflect diverse outside forces through which one could access to the origins of the weakness of the society as well as firmness of purpose to those problem. Then he theoretically categorizes different but general social causes of individual self-annihilation and draws its effect by deduction approach. There are four forms of self-destruction respect to two levels of imbalanced social forces consolidation and moral rule (Thompson, 1982). Firstly, it is regarded that egoistic suicide is the consequence of excessive individualism. In a deteriorated society, individual who integrate less with others and act on their own interest is likely to act egoistic suicide. By contrast, altruistic suici de is result from excessive conformity, Durkheim stats that suicide becomes ones obligation. It often happens in modern societies among civilised people who sacrifice themselves in order to save others such as military (Durkheim, 1979). The other two kinds of suicide are classified into the group of moral regulation. Durkheim again divided the situation that people tends to conduct unoriented suicide into four aspects of crisis decline in the capability of social organizations to revalue peoples lives rapid social transformation wealth no longer cheery people and unbalanced marriage. Finally, Durkheim view fatalistic as the product of severe but strong moral norm which often committed by slaves (Jones, 1986).It is suggested that if examine Durkheims work critically, one may noticed flaws in his notion of Suicide (Gane, 1988, p. 152). First, one may question whether such phenomenon causes by external force such as society but shared awareness from individuals. However, Durkheim d efends it by the term of conscience collective which is also a kind of a social fact and points out the strength of linking morality to discover social laws (Craib, 1997, p. 32). Secondly, Lukes (1973, p. 202-206) argues that his classification of suicide form has limited the causes and types. Moreover, Durkheim concerned the causes of suicide only with social facts and rejected the relationship between suicide and personality in terms of psychology, physic as well as alcoholism. Additionally, the surmount of suicide is more like to exist in disordered societies thus lead to an unbalanced research which prone to the theory of pathology. As a result, the contribution of suicide to sociology is actually restricted.However, Thompson (1982) states that regardless the shortages, Durkheim work of suicide is an infixed contribution because they effectively combine sociological theory with empiricism to explain social phenomenon. Durkheim suggests that the study of suicide could reveal th e connection between social members which closely go with the original subject of social bond in sociology. Moreover, by examining suicide could help one to discover the law of sociology and thus give a direction of the development of society (Lukes, 1973, p. 193). In the research, he related series of common characteristics of the society as social facts to suicide rate statistics and draw a general conclusion that particular social environment and current could lead to a growth of suicide rate. For example, wanting(p) economy growth and social mode changes generate a noteworthy suicide rate in the 19th century of European. Aimed at figure out this problem, Durkheim also proposed to strengthen the backbone of economy and support individuals with the sense of belong (Lukes, 1973, p. 220).In conclusion, this essay explored Durkheims main works in sociology. As one of the founder of professional sociology, Durkheim identified social facts thus built the mark as well as the skeleto n of sociology. Based on previous(prenominal) work, he formulates a systematic methodology to discover the social laws by observing and comparing the relationships between different variables. Durkheim further applied his methodology and theory into his work of The Division of Labor and Suicide. He discovered the procedure by which individuals socially integrate into society, and provide different types to explain the relationship between people and society. Although there are certain indistinct interpretation in terms of concepts and correlations, Durkheims work is considered to have significant to the scientific study of society.Word count 2105