Sociology Notes
Emile Durkheim
Emile Durkheim is credited with molding functionalism into a school of sociological thought. He
also greatly contributed to positivism, a sociological perspective that emphasizes rigorous
scientific methodology and hard data in the analysis of sociological phenomena.
Durkheim’s main ideas:
1) The Individual & Society: Durkheim saw the relationship between the individual and
society as a dynamic one. Society, he says, has a social reality of its own and is not
simply the sum total of the individuals living in it and their actions. Beliefs, moral codes
and ways of acting are passed from one generation to the next and are learnt by new
members of the society. Individual action is constrained by these learned patterns, which
Durkheim calls “ social facts.” These are defined by Durkheim as:
“A category of facts with very distinctive characteristics, it consists of ways of acting,
thinking and feeling, external to the individual, and endowed with a power to coercion,
by reason of which they control him. These ways of thinking should not be confused with
the biological phenomena, since they consist of representations and of actions; nor with
psychological phenomena which exist only in the individual consciousness and through
it.
Social facts then :
1) Were external to the individual
2) Exercised constraints on the individual
3) Could and should be treated as “things” i.e. objective entities, e.g. language, legal and
moral codes, systems of exchange
An individual hardly was aware of the coercive nature of “social facts” until he/she tried to
contravene them. Then the individual became aware of constraints.
2) The Origin of ‘Social Facts’- ‘Social Facts’ or socially determined patterns of behavior
originate in a need of the society. A ‘social fact’ exists, then, because it has a function
and use for the maintenance of society. Social facts may have been ‘caused’ but they
continued in existence because they continue to perform a useful function in society.
3) Social Order- It is not surprising that Durkheim was preoccupied with social order. There
seemed to be no end to social upheaval in Europe, both politically and as a result of
Emile Durkheim
Emile Durkheim is credited with molding functionalism into a school of sociological thought. He
also greatly contributed to positivism, a sociological perspective that emphasizes rigorous
scientific methodology and hard data in the analysis of sociological phenomena.
Durkheim’s main ideas:
1) The Individual & Society: Durkheim saw the relationship between the individual and
society as a dynamic one. Society, he says, has a social reality of its own and is not
simply the sum total of the individuals living in it and their actions. Beliefs, moral codes
and ways of acting are passed from one generation to the next and are learnt by new
members of the society. Individual action is constrained by these learned patterns, which
Durkheim calls “ social facts.” These are defined by Durkheim as:
“A category of facts with very distinctive characteristics, it consists of ways of acting,
thinking and feeling, external to the individual, and endowed with a power to coercion,
by reason of which they control him. These ways of thinking should not be confused with
the biological phenomena, since they consist of representations and of actions; nor with
psychological phenomena which exist only in the individual consciousness and through
it.
Social facts then :
1) Were external to the individual
2) Exercised constraints on the individual
3) Could and should be treated as “things” i.e. objective entities, e.g. language, legal and
moral codes, systems of exchange
An individual hardly was aware of the coercive nature of “social facts” until he/she tried to
contravene them. Then the individual became aware of constraints.
2) The Origin of ‘Social Facts’- ‘Social Facts’ or socially determined patterns of behavior
originate in a need of the society. A ‘social fact’ exists, then, because it has a function
and use for the maintenance of society. Social facts may have been ‘caused’ but they
continued in existence because they continue to perform a useful function in society.
3) Social Order- It is not surprising that Durkheim was preoccupied with social order. There
seemed to be no end to social upheaval in Europe, both politically and as a result of
