David Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist, psychologist and philosopher. Together with Karl Marx  and Max Weber, Émile Durkheim is considered as one of the fathers of sociology. 

 

 

Birth and Early Life 

Émile Durkheim was born April 15, 1858 in Épinal, France to Moise and Melanie Durkheim.  Part of a Jewish family, Émile was strictly set to become a rabbi just like his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather and attended a rabbinical school at a young age.  But, still at a young age, Durkheim decided not to follow in the family tradition, ending his rabbinical schooling.  It was then that Émile Durkheim became agnostic, a free thinker.  Even so, Durkheim never severed his ties with his family and the Jewish community. 

 

As a very mature and intelligent student, Durkheim attended many prestigious schools as he ventured to find his way into the world. First, he attended College d'Epinal and graduated with a bachelor's of letters and sciences in 1874 and 1875.  It was then that Durkheim decided to become a teacher.  With the decision, Durkheim left Épinal and moved to Paris to study at Lyrcée Louis-Le-Grand, then entered École Normale Supérieure when he studied to become a teacher in 1879.  It took Durkheim three tries to pass the entrance exam.  In 1882, Durkheim passed the aggregation - an exam required for school teachers - and began to teach philosophy. 

 

Inspirations 

In his youth, Émile Durkheim was inspired by many. Such names include philosophers Charles Renouvier and Émile Boutroux, along with Numas Denis Fustel de Coulanges, a historian.  From them, Durkheim absorbed rationalism, anti-utilitarianism and secular education.  But there was a greater inspiration to Durkheim, one he looked up to the most.  The founding father of sociology himself, Auguste Comte.  Comte believed that the study of society was to be founded on examination of facts.  That the only valid guide to objective knowledge was the scientific method.  That the social sciences could become scientific only when they are stripped of their metaphysical abstractions and philosophical speculations.  The young Émile Durkheim agreed and accepted these ideas, expanding them as to shape the study of social science today.  

 

Another major influence on Durkheim was the epistemological - the study or theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity - outlook called social realism.  Social realism is the realistic depiction in art of contemporary life, as a means of social or political comment.  Durkheim adopted this realist perspective so that he could demonstrate the existence of social realities outside the individual.  Durkheim showed that these realities existed in the form of the objected relations of society, opposing other predominant philosophical perspective such as empiricism and positivism.  While Auguste Comte claimed that scientific laws could be deduced from empirical observations, Durkheim went even further claiming that sociology would not only discover "apparent" laws but would be able to discover the inherent of society. 

 

Functionalism 

As Émile Durkheim became interested in society, German sociologist Karl Marx has already made ground breaking work as he introduced his ideas of conflict, classes and capitalism.  Durkheim decided not to follow Marx's ideas and instead took the very opposite approach and created the idea that "society can function as a whole".  Not only that, Durkheim even claimed that society tends to gravitate towards general agreement and order, simply by reaching smooth functioning.  Émile Durkheim became the sole major creator of the idea of functionalism. 

 

Durkheim looked at all the different institutions that we have: marriage, family, business and division of labor, culture, education and more.  Durkheim saw how they all worked together and created what we call society.  The idea has some holes though, as societies were not always getting along.  Durkheim realized this and created the word "anomie".  An anomie is when a society is in a state where it is lacking regulation.  This state could be during a sort of shift when a society changes from one way of being to another.  An example is the French Revolution during which, is a time when the industrial revolution was occurring as well.  An anomie is simply a state where a society is in-between different societal set-ups. 

 

De La Division Du Travail Social (Division of Labor in Society) 

In 1893, Émile Dukrheim's first major work was published.  Titled "De La Division Du Travail Social", it is a dissertation where Durkheim presented a new vision of social structures at the root of capitalism.  Durkheim discussed how the division of labor is beneficial for society as it increased the reproductive capacity, the skill of the workers and strengthens the solidarity, the unity between people.  There are two types of social solidarity.  One is mechanical solidarity, where individuals are connected to society without any intermediary, or influence.  Meaning the society is organized together, and all members of the society shares the same beliefs.  

 

The second type of social solidarity is organic solidarity.  A system of different functions that are united by definite relationships.  Meaning individuals have a distinct job or action.  As the individuals grow, parts of the society grows with them.  Under organic solidarity, the society becomes much efficient at moving in unison, yet each of its parts are very distinct in its own.  Durkheim claims that the more primitive a society is, the more it is characterized by mechanical society.  As societies become more advanced, members of those societies become more unique, establishing the standards for organic solidarity. 

 

Durkheim also discussed law in this work.  According to him, law is the most visible symbol of social solidarity and the organization of social life in its most precise and stable form.  Law is what keeps all parts of society together in harmony.  

 

There are two types of legal structure.  The first is repressive law.  Repressive law appoints some kind of punishment to the wrongdoer.  Repressive law corresponds to the 'center of common consciousness' and tends to stay scattered throughout the society.  The second type of law is restitutive law.  Instead of implying suffering on the wrongdoer, restitutive law focuses on restoring the relationship that was disturbed from their normal form by the crime that occurred.  It works through the more specialized bodies of society, such as lawyers and courts.  As repressive law takes a more primitive take on the wrongdoers, corresponding to the mechanical state of society, restitutive is more civilized and advanced, as it corresponds to the organic state of society. 

 

Le Suicide (Suicide) 

In the late 19th Century, sociology was growing.  Émile Durkheim knew this and so, he wanted to show how his approach to the discipline was superior to others.  In 1897, Durkheim's "Le Suicide" was published (not to be confused with "Le Suicidé", an oil painting by French painter Édouard Manet).  Durkheim showed that sociology can explain certain topics in ways no other discipline could.  Durkheim wanted to prove that action is shaped by society, that sociology must be more than speculation.  Durkheim believed that suicide can occur for personal reasons, but it cannot account for the suicide rate.  The cause of suicides are not individuals.  Meaning that there is a structural origin. 

 

After analyzing multiple data, Durkheim came up with four different types of suicide.  The first being egoistic suicide.  Egoistic suicide is committed by people who are not supported by their community or social group.  They consider themselves as outsiders, only depending on themselves to keep their way of life.  When they feel stress and anxiety, they feel very isolated.  Famous examples in this type of suicide include musician Kurt Cobain and actress Marilyn Monroe.  

 

The second type of suicide is altruistic suicide.  People who commit altruistic suicide are ones who are deeply devoted to a group or a cause.  In death, these individuals view themselves as heroes.  Examples of altruistic suicide include people who would take a bullet for their family or nation.  Extreme examples include the kamikazes that attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. 

 

A third type of suicide is anomic suicide.  This type of suicide is when people commit suicide during a change.  People who cannot adapt out of their norms commit anomic suicide.  Examples are people who suddenly lose their jobs, or when one would quickly become rich and famous, not being able to handle the pressure, or limelight.  As the case with musician Jimi Hendrix. 

 

The last type of suicide is fatalistic suicide.  People who commit fatalistic suicide are ones who are burdened or abused, or individuals who do not have passion left in their lives.  These people are so tightly bound to the rules of society that they feel trapped and unmoving.  Examples of this are prisoners and people who have nothing left to care for, even themselves. 

 

Les Formes Élémentaires De La Vie Religieuse (The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life) 

The "Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse" is the last major work published by Émile Durkheim in 1912.  Scholarly, it is regarded as Durkheim's best and most mature work as he went in depth in the study of religion.  In this work, Durkheim focused on the Australian aborigines, or natives.  Durkheim chose this group because he felt that they represented the most basic and "elementary" forms of religion within a culture. 

 

In his research, Durkheim decided to do two things.  First he wanted to establish the fact that religion was not divinely or supernaturally inspired and was only a product of society.  Second, he sought to identify the things that religion has emphasis upon, along with what effects those religious beliefs had on the lives of all in society. 

 

Recognizing the social origin of religion, Durkheim learned that religion acted as a source of solidarity and identification for individuals within a society, especially as a part of mechanical solidarity systems, and to lesser, but still an important extent in the context of organic solidarity.  Religion proved meaning to life, provided authority figures, and reinforced morals and social norms held together by everyone in a society.  Durkheim saw it as a critical part of the social system.  Religion provides social control, cohesion, and purpose for people as well as another way to communicate. 

 

For Durkheim's second purpose, he discovered that a belief in a supernatural realm is not necessary or common among religions, but the separation of different aspects of life, physical things, and certain behaviors into two categories - the sacred and the profane - is common.  Objects and behaviors that were considered sacred were considered a part of the spiritual or religious realm.  They were part of rites, objects of reverence, or simply behaviors considered special by religious belief.  On the other hand, things that are thought to be profane were everything else in the world that did not hold religious meaning.   Although these two categories are set apart, they interact with one another and depend on each other for survival.  The sacred world cannot survive without the profane world to support it and give it life, and vice versa. 

 

Legacy 

Émile Durkheim was affected badly during World War I.  In 1916, his only son, André was killed at the Balkan front.  Trying to hide his grief, he submerged himself into his work, then socially forbade his friends from mentioning his son's name in his presence. On November 15, 1917 because of pressure and grief, Émile Durkheim passed from an illness that began a year earlier in a form of a stroke.  He is buried in the Cimetiére de Montparanasse in Paris.  He was 59. 

 

In his lifetime, Émile Durkheim made sociology mainstream as it has gained tremendous popularity all over the world.  Through his students, Durkheim's philosophies and influence has spread in the United States and Great Britain.  Even today, Durkheim's ideas continue to influence several major theoretical movements.  With those achievements, Émile Durkheim was and remains one of the greatest social thinkers of all time. 

 

References: 

Carls , P. (2012, June 3). Émile Durkheim (1858-1917). Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/durkheim/

 

Durkheim , E. (1997). The Division of Labor in Society. (1st ed.). New York: Free Press.

 

Elwell , F. (n.d.). Major Works by Emile Durkheim . Retrieved from http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Durkheim/DurkheimBooks.htm

 

Gingrich, P. (1999, December 8). Sociology 250 - Social Facts and Suicide. Retrieved from http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/o26f99.htm

 

Jones, A. (1986). Émile durkheim: An Introduction to Four Major Works . Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

 

No Author. Émile Durkheim: Father of Sociology. (2013 ). Retrieved from http://www.emiledurkheim.org

 

No Author. The Durkheim Pages . (2011, October 10). Retrieved from http://durkheim.uchicago.edu/index.html

 

No Author. The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, by Émile Durkheim . (2012, November 13). Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41360/41360-h/41360-h.htm