Research Paper On Emile Durkheim

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INTRODUCTION

Sociology as it is known today would not have been the same without the intervention of Emile Durkheim (1858–1917). Durkheim is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of sociology and for good reason: he successfully brought drastic changes in the way social scientists considered the associations between individuals and society. Durkheim rejected biological and psychological explanations of the human behaviour and therefore focused his attention on how mankind’s social problems could be determined by social structure. Excelling in his discipline, Emile Durkheim had a visionary insight on various domains such as the sociology of knowledge, ethics, social stratification, theology, legislation, pedagogy, and deviance. Accomplishments in these domains can be found in previous theorists. We immediately have in mind titans of the world of social sciences such as Montesquieu, Comte and Marx. Nevertheless, Durkheim had and still has a tremendous impact on sociology, it would be inadequate to say that he is unworthy of being cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology. Therefore a thorough understanding of Durkheim is crucial to be able to understand this discipline.

1.0 BIOGRAPHY

Emile Durkheim was born at Epinal in the eastern French province of Lorraine on April 15, 1858. Being born in a family descending from a long line of rabbis, he appeared destined for the