Durkheim
Classical Theory
SYA3110
Emile Durkheim
Durkheim was known as the architect of social science and contributed a great deal to the social science community. Durkheim was not born with this title however. Durkheim was born from a long line of French Jews. His father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all rabbis. At an early stage in life however Durkheim made the decision not to follow in his family’s footsteps. He wanted to lead a completely secular life and much of his work was dedicated to demonstrating that religious phenomena stemmed from social rather than religious factors. This was completely against his family’s background and did not make his father very proud however Durkheim was leave his mark in history and begin a very important science studying society. While at school, Durkheim would help reform the French school system. Durkheim introduced the study of social science in its curriculum. This was very controversial however and caused a lot of criticism. This type of science was inferring that a lot of society’s issues and everyday occurrences could be explained by the way society functioned and not by religious means or an omnipotent power. Durkheim’s work was initially published in his manifesto “Rules of Sociological Method” which stated what sociology is and how it should be done. With this he founded the first department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux. With all this success, Durkheim had achieved his goal of attaining a prominent position in Paris when he became the chair of education at the Sorbonne. Durkheim continued his success throughout the eastern country until World War I which hurt his studies greatly. The war would take attention away from Durkheim and his new found position. It was difficult for Durkheim to support his country and the war while also trying to be successful within his study. Sadly the war would ultimately end Durkheim’s life in an odd way. Durkheim’s own son Andre’ who had participated in
SYA3110
Emile Durkheim
Durkheim was known as the architect of social science and contributed a great deal to the social science community. Durkheim was not born with this title however. Durkheim was born from a long line of French Jews. His father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all rabbis. At an early stage in life however Durkheim made the decision not to follow in his family’s footsteps. He wanted to lead a completely secular life and much of his work was dedicated to demonstrating that religious phenomena stemmed from social rather than religious factors. This was completely against his family’s background and did not make his father very proud however Durkheim was leave his mark in history and begin a very important science studying society. While at school, Durkheim would help reform the French school system. Durkheim introduced the study of social science in its curriculum. This was very controversial however and caused a lot of criticism. This type of science was inferring that a lot of society’s issues and everyday occurrences could be explained by the way society functioned and not by religious means or an omnipotent power. Durkheim’s work was initially published in his manifesto “Rules of Sociological Method” which stated what sociology is and how it should be done. With this he founded the first department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux. With all this success, Durkheim had achieved his goal of attaining a prominent position in Paris when he became the chair of education at the Sorbonne. Durkheim continued his success throughout the eastern country until World War I which hurt his studies greatly. The war would take attention away from Durkheim and his new found position. It was difficult for Durkheim to support his country and the war while also trying to be successful within his study. Sadly the war would ultimately end Durkheim’s life in an odd way. Durkheim’s own son Andre’ who had participated in