Emile Durkheim—A biographical sketch
Emile Durkheim was born on April 5, 1858, in Epinal, France. He studied Hebrew
language, the Old Testament and the Talmund at an early age. Durkheim had a
bright student career in the college at Epinal. He was not in support of the
conventional subject taught in school and Colleges. He longed for schooling in
Scientific methods. He graduated from the famous college of Paris “Ecole
Normale.” From 1882 to 1887 he taught philosophy in a number of provincial
schools in Paris.
His appetite for Science was whetted further by a trip to Germany, where he was
exposed to the scientific Psychology being pioneered by Wilhelm Wundt, in the
years immediately after his visit to Germany. After his return from Germany he
went on publishing several articles. In 1893, he published his French doctoral
thesis, “The Division of labour in Society.” In 1885, The Rules of Sociological
Method, in 1897 “The Suicide”, in 1912, “The Elementary forms of religious life.”
By 1906 he was named the professor of the Science of Education and in 1913 his
title was subsequently changed to the professor of the Science and Sociology.”
Durkheim’s journal which he started “Anne Sociologique” in 1896 still continues
to serve, as one of the leading journals of sociological thought. His influence on
sociology is a lasting one. He breathed his last in November 15, 1917, in 59 years
of age. Though Durkheim is no more but his contributions are still alive.
Main Works of Durkheim:
1. The Division of Labour in Society—-1893.
2. The Rules of Sociological method—1895.
3. Suicide—1897
4. Collective and Individual Representations—1899.
5. Judgements of Reality and Judgements of Value—1911
6. The Elementary forms of Religious life-1912
7. Professional Ethics and Civil morals.
Durkheim is considered as a celebrated figure in French intellectual circles. He has
made “Social Facts” central in his methods. Durkheim almost completely
neglected the social importance of individual decision. Lewis A. Coser writes:
“Society is real to be sure, but so is the individual and the two, it should be
remembered, are always in interaction. Giving priority to one or the other is
misleading in the long.”
Durkheim was a man of character. He was passionately engaged in the moral
issues of his time; throughout his life. Durkheim in a way was a positivist and
strongly recommended the application of the methods of physical science to the
study of social facts.
Durkheim’s writings on various sociological topics provide relatively convincing
answers to many problems in sociological theory.
Durkheim’s Rules of Sociological method is a classic text in the best sense. He
sees his first task as stating exactly what it is that sociology is about, what it
studies. Durkheim’s intention was to distinguish sociology from biology and
psychology, particularly the latter. What distinguishes a social fact is that it is
imposed upon us from the outside; that there is a large degree of compulsion about
it.
Having defined social facts as the proper concern or object of sociology, Durkheim
instructs us to consider social facts as if they were things. By such an instruction,
he is trying to distinguish sociological analysis from what we might call
speculative theorizing.
Durkheim maintained that there is an underlying positivistic unity of science. In
other words, all the Sciences—Physical, Chemical, biological, psychological and
social—share certain basic methodological principles and procedures. As the
physicist studies relationships between physical facts in order to discover physical
laws, the biologist studies relationships among biological facts in order to discover
biological laws.
According to Durkheim, “the sociologist studies relationships among objective
Social facts in order to formulate determinant social laws. Social facts are
characteristics of the sui-generis society. As properties of society they cannot be
reduced to or redefined as individual or psychological facts. A basic rule in the
study of social facts, for Durkheim involved the positivistic approach of “treating
social facts as things.”
