Émile Durkheim

Émile Durkheim (1858-1917), French social theorist, who was one of the pioneers in the development of modern sociology.

Durkheim was born in Épinal, France, a descendant of a distinguished line of rabbinical scholars. He graduated from the École Normale Supérieure in Paris in 1882 and then taught law and philosophy. In 1887 he began teaching sociology, first at the University of Bordeaux and later at the University of Paris.

Durkheim believed that scientific methods should be applied to the study of society. He proposed that groups had characteristics that were more than, or different from, the sum of the individuals' characteristics or behaviors. He was also concerned with the basis of social stability—the common values shared by a society, such as morality and religion. In his view, these values, or the collective conscience, are the cohesive bonds that hold the social order together. A breakdown of these values, he believed, leads to a loss of social stability and to individual feelings of anxiety and dissatisfaction. He explained suicide as a result of an individual's lack of integration in society. Durkheim discussed the correlation in Suicide: A Study in Sociology (1897; translated 1951). In his studies and writings he made much use of anthropological materials, especially those dealing with aboriginal societies, to support his theories. Among his other books are The Division of Labor in Society (1893; translated 1933), The Rules of Sociological Method (1895; translated 1938), and The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912; translated 1915).