On Morality and Society , Ch.
"on Morality in Society"
lays out a number of Durkheim’s basic ideas.
They are also worth comparing to each other for the apparent way in
which they contradict each other.
“The Principles of
1789 and Sociology” uses a review of a book on the French Revolution as an
opportunity to criticize the idea that society consists merely of
self-interested, egoistic individuals whose relationships with each other are
merely contractual. He also criticizes
the idea that society is “something against nature.”(P. 39)
“Individualism and
the Intellectuals” is Durkheim’s contribution to the Dreyfus Affair, which was
the pivotal political event in France
On Morality and Society , Ch.
These chapters are
brief selections from Durkheim's first major work, The Division of
Labor in Society. In this book,
Durkheim argues that the development of the division of labor is the formative
trend in modern society. As roles in
society become more specialized, human beings become increasingly
differentiated from each other. Simpler
societies, in which people do roughly similar things, are held together by very
strong collective beliefs which take on a sacred aura. Durkheim called this kind of social bond “mechanical solidarity.” As the division of labor increases the
collective consciousness weakens and becomes more abstract. However, these more complex societies are not
simply collections of self-interested individuals held together by merely
contractual bonds. By making every
person dependent on every other, the division of labor creates (or at least
should create) a new kind of social bond, “organic solidarity.” (You might want to think back to Tocqueville’s
distinction between the two kinds of patriotism.)
This argument is very
important for Durkheim for at least two reasons: (1) It affirms, as he says,
that “every society is a moral society.”
(112) (2) While mechanical
solidarity is built on a denial of individual differences, organic solidarity
presupposes and affirms these differences.
Additional article summaries by Emile Durkheim:
Emile Durkheim - Suicide"The Genesis of the Notion of the Totemic Principle or Mana" – summary and review" - part 1 -2 -3
What is Social Fact?
Division of Labor in Society
Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Moral Education
Types of Suicide according to Emile Durkheim
Anomie according to Durkheim
Suggested reading:
