Page 77 - DSOC401_SOCIOLOGICAL_THOUGHT_ENGLISH

Unit-13: Emile Durkheim: Intellectual Background

any subject till when he did not tested all the conceptual facts of that subject. We come to know this notes
truth after analyzing ‘The principle of social division of labour, ‘The social principle of religion’, ‘The
principle if suicide’ etc. presented by him.

13.1 intellectual background

French philosopher and sociologist Emile Durkheim was born at Epinal in France in 1858. After getting
few days education in Paris Durkheim went Germany and did the deep studies of economics, public
psychology, cultural anthropology, etc. there and finally was elected as professor of social science in
Bordeaux University. At that time , famous psychologist alfred espinas was also the professor in
the same university whose grouped mind related thought is a very worthy principle and Durkheim’s
principle of grouped-mind is approximately same as his this principle. Durkheim tried to sophisticate
after discriminating Espinas’s principle so that it could get a conceivable form. After that he was
selected as professor of sociology and education in Paris University. Prior to this he had also gotten
the degree of doctorate from the same university in 1893. The subject of his thesis was: De la division
du travail social (The division of labour in society). This is known as his first and important epic.

Did You Know? Durkheim started to publish a magazine named as ‘L’annee
sociologique‘related to sociology in 1898 and was the editor himself. In
1917, this exceptional and talented sociologist died.
the main epics of Durkheim are following: De la division du travail social (Paris,1893) , Lee regles
de la methode sociologique (Paris , 1895) , Le Suicide (Paris , 1897) , Les formes elementaire de la vie
religieuse (Paris , 1912) , Education et sociologie (Paris , 1922) , Sociologie et philosophy (Paris , 1924),
and L’ education morale (Paris , 1925).
As it has already said ‘De la division du travail social’ was the very first epic of Durkheim but it was
the solid foundation of his fame. The descriptive analysis of social labour-division has done in this
book. It is not a study of labour division in economic point of view, but is the discrimination of social
results. This book is divided in two parts-in first part the descriptive meaning of the works and effects
of labour-division related to social incidents is presented and in second part the discrimination of
nature and reasons of labour-division has done. So it is clear that the subject matter of this book is
not economical, but is sociological.
After two years of his this first book his new book ‘Lee regles de la methode sociologique (translated
as The Rules of Sociological Method)’ is published. As it is clear from the title of this book, Durkheim
established the rules of sociological methodologies in this book because without it would be impossible
to establish sociology as an independent science. He has forced very repeatedly in this book that
imagination and symbolic explaination should be gotten red off from the study field of social-incidents.
All the studies of social incidents must be based on subjective facts. Sociology is a science, so keeping in
mind its dignity the use of scientific methodologies is appropriate. Durkheim’s this book is respected
as a fundamental epic in sociological literature only because of this reason.
After two years of his above book Durkheim’s third book ‘Le suicide’ (The suicide) is published. This
book presents the most excellent analysis and extensive description about suicide. Its aim is to analyze
and demonstrate those social processes, effectors or facts which are the reasons of committing suicide. In
this book after collecting a lot of data related to suicide Durkheim has proved that suicide is definitely
a social incident and is a social incident in this way that suicide only happens when the social life of
the person who suicides gets unsystematic or such social effects or pressures get active on him which
decomposes his social life. Society or groups are the main reasons of most of the suicides.

LoVeLY professionaL uniVersitY 71