social fact

social fact

states of the collective mind--http://www.relst.uiuc.edu/durkheim/Summaries/rules.html

independent of his individual will.--http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/o26f99.htm

Two types of social facts are material and non-material social facts--http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/o26f99.htm

Two types of social facts are material and non-material social facts. Material social facts are features of society such as social structures and institutions. These could be the system of law, the economy, church and many aspects of religion, the state, and educational institutions and structures. They could also include features such as channels of communication, urban structures, and population distribution. While these are important for understanding the structures and form of interaction in any society, it is nonmaterial social facts that constitute the main subject of study of sociology.

Nonmaterial social facts are social facts which do not have a material reality. They consist of features such as norms, values, and systems of morality. Some contemporary examples are the norm of the one to three child family, the positive values associated with family structures, and the negative associations connected to aggression and anger. In Durkheim's terminology, some of these nonmaterial social facts are morality, collective consciousness, and social currents. An example of the latter is Durkheim's analysis of suicide.--http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/o26f99.htm

Two types of social facts are material and non-material social facts. Material social facts are features of society such as social structures and institutions. These could be the system of law, the economy, church and many aspects of religion, the state, and educational institutions and structures. They could also include features such as channels of communication, urban structures, and population distribution. While these are important for understanding the structures and form of interaction in any society, it is nonmaterial social facts that constitute the main subject of study of sociology.

Nonmaterial social facts are social facts which do not have a material reality. They consist of features such as norms, values, and systems of morality. Some contemporary examples are the norm of the one to three child family, the positive values associated with family structures, and the negative associations connected to aggression and anger. In Durkheim's terminology, some of these nonmaterial social facts are morality, collective consciousness, and social currents. An example of the latter is Durkheim's analysis of suicide.--http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/o26f99.htm

Contributions

a. Social Facts and Social Aspects. These are real things that do affect people. He had a strong structural view of society, and the manner in which each of us is influenced by these social facts and how we must fit into these. Durkheim attempted to see a role for the social as distinguished from the economic, psychological and biological. This can be seen in his view of the social influences on suicide rates, where he takes a wide variety of factors and considers their influence on the tendency or aptitude for suicide. The effect of each of these factors is not a simple connection between the factor and the tendency to suicide, but must be mediated by social factors. In particular, the social factors that he identified were the degree of integration and the degree of regulation. For modern theories of sociobiology, and the influence of genetics, Durkheim's approach could prove a useful counter.

b. Division of Labour and forms of solidarity. Durkheim again shows how the division of labour is set within a social context, so that economic relationships are governed by social conventions that may not always be apparent. Durkheim's view that the division of labour does not result in a disintegration of society, but changes the form of social solidarity provides a useful way of examining modern society.

The last few pages of Giddens' discussion of Durkheim examines individuality and individual freedom within an overall structure (Giddens, pp. 115-118). Durkheim notes that individualism is a product of long historical developments within western society, with the French Revolution giving a "decisive impetus to the growth of moral individualism." (Giddens, p. 116). Part of this view is the sanctity of the individual, the worth of the human individual, individual rights and the encouragement of individual action and initiative. But Durkheim notes that these themselves are social facts in the sense that these ideas are social products, created by society. Durkheim further argues that they are not the product of egoism, that is, self-interest as the basic motivation for human action. While the development of individualism will promote self-interest and egoism, this is not the source of individualism, and an unchecked development of egoism would destroy society. This is not what happens though, except perhaps under exceptional circumstances.

What Durkheim argues is that freedom is not to be identified with liberation from all restraints, this results in anomie (Giddens, p. 117). Rather, freedom exists in being "master of oneself" by "putting oneself under the wing of society." That is, freedom is achieved within a set of moral rules, and discipline within this set of rules is an essential aspect of freedom. The notion of rights and responsibilities may be a means of tying these together.

c. Sociological Approaches. Many of common approaches to sociology derive from Durkheim. The method of attempting to determine social facts and their influence, along with concepts such as norms, values, socialization, institutions, etc. could be considered to come at least partly from Durkheim.

2. Problems

At the same time as Durkheim made a number of important contributions to sociology, there are a number of problems with his analysis. Some of these are as follows.

a. Action. As noted above, Durkheim has a particular view of human freedom and this may be regarded as too limited. Or even if this approach is adopted, it is not clear what is the basis for individual human motivation and action. Durkheim's view is a very strong structural view. Society and social facts more or less determine our behaviour, and we have little option but to accept those. He favours such an approach, and considers deviations from this as abnormal. This could allow his approach to be used to identify any behaviour that is not part of the common morality as abnormal and perhaps deviant, something that has to be corrected or eliminated. For example, immigrants, youth culture, etc.

While there are many aspects of a common morality in our society, there are also many opportunities for individuals acting in a variety of ways in similar situations. Durkheim might recognize this as possible, but he seems to have little to say concerning the nature of human motivation. He is too concerned with the larger structural issues. Durkheim and Marx are similar in this sense, they both have a very strong structural view, with limited possibility for human action, or little theory of human action. Weber's model of action or some of the more recent approaches such as symbolic interaction would prove more useful here.

b. Consensus, Solidarity and Common Consciousness. While Durkheim makes a useful contribution in presenting ideas concerning the source of societal solidarity, this often appears to be his only concern. One difficulty with Durkheim and the structural functional approach is that the latter almost completely ignore conflict and power differences. Durkheim may have constructed his approach in part to negate the Marxian or conflict approach to the study of society. Durkheim treats the anomic and forced forms of the division of labour as unusual, and devotes little time to their analysis.--http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/o26f99.htm

http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/bio.htm#Rouseau
Durkheim is often thought of as the founder of sociology, the science of society. He developed Rousseau's concept that society is not the sum of its individual members, but is a reality in itself, based on the general will.
http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/servlet/OUFrame;jsessionid=492DACEEC0FCE94D612B08F15FEBFC34.one?url=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26q%3D%252522*%2Blimits%2B*%2Brationality%2B*%2Bessay%252522%2Bsite%253Aworldcatlibraries.org&title=title+search+&linktype=title&detail=goog_scholar%3A*+limits+*+rationality+*+essay%3Anoframes
--http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/ow/89fd457cb4c1dffda19afeb4da09e526.html

Where Suicide focused on a large amount of statisitics from varying sources--http://durkheim.itgo.com/religion.html

generally designated by two distinct terms which are translated well enough by the words profane and sacred.32 The characteristic by which the latter is distinguished from the former, moreover, is simply that it is distinguished absolutely:33 "In all the history of human thought," Durkheim emphasized, "there exists no other example of two categories of things so profoundly differentiated or so radically opposed to one another."34 Durkheim thus arrived at his preliminary definition of the essential parts of any religious system: sacred things are those isolated and protected by powerful interdictions; profane things are those which, according to those interdictions, must remain at a distance from their sacred counterparts; religious beliefs are representations which express the nature of sacred things and their relations, either with one another or with profane things; religious rites are rules of conduct which prescribe how one should behave in the presence of sacred things; and finally, where "a certain number of sacred things sustain relations of co-ordination or subordination with each other in such a way as to form a system having a certain unity," the beliefs and rites thus united constitute a religion.35--http://www.relst.uiuc.edu/durkheim/Summaries/forms.html

A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden -- beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them.--http://www.relst.uiuc.edu/durkheim/Summaries/forms.html