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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page research paper that discusses 2 of the founding fathers of sociology. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) and Max Weber (1864-1920) are two of the foremost progenitors of the field of sociology, as they both formulated major theoretical and methodological positions on the emerging science of sociology and were instrumental in providing sociology's fundamental orientation. However, while each is credited as a founder of sociology, it is also true that their viewpoints are completely opposed to one another. Examining the positions taken by these great early sociologists in their writing underlies the differences in their distinctive views on the nature of society. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khdwsio.rtf
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methodological positions on the emerging science of sociology and were instrumental in providing sociologys fundamental orientation. However, while each is credited as a founder of sociology, it is also true
that their viewpoints are completely opposed to one another. Examining the positions taken by these great early sociologists in their writing underlies the differences in their distinctive views on the
nature of society. First of all, Durkheim and Weber disagreed on the very nature of society. Durkheim saw society as an entity unto itself. Rather than seeing society as
construct created by individuals, Durkheim believed that society is the mechanism that shapes individuals. In his classic text The Division of Labor, Durkheim states, "Collective life did not arise from
individual life; on the contrary, it is the latter that emerged from the former" (Durkheim 220-221). In this text, Durkheim clearly tries to convey an understanding of societies as being
real and concrete by showing that they have properties similar to those of material objects. Durkheim pictures society as a distinct organism and argues that individuals do not work collectively,
with each doing a specific job, from the societys origination, but rather pre-existing societies evolve and develop a division of labor. Society comes first and then specialization. Durkheim defined society
as external to the individual, but internalized by the individual and not something determined by either biology or psychology. Therefore, he conceived of sociology as a science distinctive from all
others, that is, as a mechanism for studying the evolution of societies. Durkheim recognized the differences between societal structures and posited that what a society considers to be a "norm"
is determined by its stage of development. When conflicts exists between social norms or if there is an absence of social norms, this produces "anomie" or a condition of social
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