Emile Durkheim
    About Lesson

    A. Durkheim’s Latin thesis 1892


    Durkheim attended Ecole under the tutelage of Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges, a classicist with a social-scientific inclination, and wrote his Latin dissertation on Montesquieu.  The Spirit of the Laws (1748) is one of the French philosopher Montesquieu’s great works of contemporary social theory. Durkheim’s Latin thesis (1892) is one of the best readings and analyses of that work. It is also a foundational declaration of Durkheim’s thoughts about society and sociological techniques. It was a predecessor of “The Rules of Sociological Method” and a companion thesis to “The Division of Labor.”


    B. The Division of Labour in Society 1893


    French Title: De la division du travail social  

    The Division of Labour in Society is Émile Durkheim’s Ph.D. dissertation, published in 1893. It was significant in advancing sociological theories and philosophy, including concepts inspired by Auguste Comte. Durkheim outlined the maintenance of social order in societies based on two very different types of solidarity – mechanical and organic – and the movement from more “primitive” societies to sophisticated industrial societies.


    C. The Rules of Sociological method 1895


    French Title: Les Règles de la méthode sociologique

    Emile Durkheim’s book The Rules of Sociological Method was initially published in 1895. It is widely acknowledged as the direct product of Durkheim’s ambition of constructing sociology as a positivist social science. Durkheim’s contention that social sciences should be handled with the same rigorous scientific technique as natural sciences was considered innovative at the time. He investigated methodologically how societal components of tradition and regulation get established in human personality and intellect. In this book, Durkheim advanced the logical principles derived from society’s asserted authority. This work, above all others, attracted the criticism of his detractors, most notably that of a French contemporary and critic, Gabriel Tarde.


    D. Suicide: A Study in Sociology 1897


    French Title: Le Suicide: Étude de sociologie

    Durkheim published “Suicide: A Study in Sociology” in 1897. It was the first methodological investigation of a social fact in its social context. Suicide by Emile Durkheim is a crucial work for sociology, and it continues to be significant in the study of suicide over a century later. Although subsequent investigations have changed this theory of suicide, its essential perspective remains uncontested. Durkheim’s work is considered a classic not just for its explanation of suicide but also for the personality theories and the social order in which it is embedded.


    E. Individual and Collective Representations 1898


    In his 1898 paper “Individual and Collective Representations,” he claimed that social scientists should not seek to draw social principles from biological laws. Instead, biology discoveries should only be contrasted with independently established social laws with the premise that all organisms must have some qualities in common that are worth examining.


    F. Judgements of Reality and Judgements of Value 1911


    This paper was presented to the International Congress of Philosophy in Bologna in 1911. The central focus of the study is “How are value judgments possible?”


    G. The Elementary forms of Religious life-1912


    French Title: Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse

    The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, written by the French sociologist Émile Durkheim and published in 1912, examines religion as a social phenomenon. Durkheim connects religious progress to the emotional support gained via community life.


    H. Professional Ethics and Civil morals


    Professional Ethics and Civic Morals, released posthumously in English in 1958, is a collection of sociology lectures delivered by Durkheim at the University of Bordeaux between 1890 and 1900 and repeated at the University of Paris-Sorbonne in 1904.

    Emile Durkheim articulated the essence of his morality and social rights theory, which would dominate his work for the rest of his life. According to Durkheim, sociology studies morals that are objective social realities, and these moral norms serve as the foundation for individual rights and responsibilities. This work is essential for understanding Durkheim’s sociology since it includes his much-overlooked notion of the state as a moral institution and his criticism of anomie and egoistic individualism. Durkheim delivered a sociology course at the University of Bordeaux in 1898, 1899, and 1900, as well as at the Sorbonne in 1904 and 1912. They present a detailed exposition of man’s concerns and role in society, focusing on the development of morality and rights and the interplay of freedom and obligation with legal rights and restrictions.


    Other works of Durkheim


    1. On the Normality of Crime (1895)
    2. The Prohibition of Incest and its Origins (1897), in L’Année Sociologique 
    3. Sociology and its Scientific Domain (1900), translation of an Italian text entitled “La sociologia e il suo dominio scientifico.”
    4. Primitive Classification (1903), in collaboration with Marcel Mauss
    5. Who Wanted War? (1914), in collaboration with Ernest Denis
    6. Germany Above All (1915)


    Published posthumously


    1. Education and Sociology (1922)
    2. Sociology and Philosophy (1924)
    3. Moral Education (1925)
    4. Socialism (1928)
    5. Pragmatism and Sociology (1955)


    Translation Author ( English )


    1. The Division of Labour in Society. 1893. Translated by G. Simpson
    2. The Rules of Sociological Method. 1895. Translated by Sarah A. Soloway and John H. Mueller. 
    3. Socialism and Saint-Simon. 1895–1896. Translated by Charlotte Sattler. 
    4. Suicide: A Study in Sociology. 1897. Translated by John A. Spaulding and George Simpson. 
    5. Primitive Classification (with M. Mauss). 1903. Translated by Rodney Needham. 
    6. Sociology and Philosophy. 1898–1911. Translated by D. F. Pocock.
    7. Education and Sociology. 1903–11. Translated by Sherwood D. Fox. 
    8. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. 1912. Translated by J. W. Swain.
    9. Moral Education. 1912. Translated by Everett K. Wilson. 
    10. The Evolution of Educational Thought. 1913. Translated by Peter Collins.
    11. Professional Ethics and Civic Morals 1958. Translated by Cornelia Brookfield.


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