- Durkheim, Émile
- (1858-1917)social theoristOne of the founders of modern sociology, Émile Durkheim was born in Épinal and graduated from the École normale supérieure in Paris. He began his career teaching social sciences, first at the university of Bordeaux and later at the university of Paris. In the line of auguste comte's positivism, Durkheim believed that the scientific method should be applied to the study of society. He proposed that groups had characteristics that varied from those of individuals and was also concerned with the basis of social stability, mores, and religion. Values, he believed, were the bonds that held the social order together. Their breakdown leads to the loss of one's individual stability and to feelings of anxiety and dissatisfaction. In this light, he explained suicide as a result of the lack of integration into society. In his work, Durkheim often applied anthropological themes and approaches, especially of aboriginal societies, to support his theories. His principal works include De la division du travail social (1893), Regles de la méthode sociologique (1895), Le Suicide (1897), Les Formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse: le système totémique en Australie (1912).
France. A reference guide from Renaissance to the Present . 1884.