This paper will explore the sociological theories which were espoused by the world renowned theorist Emile Durkheim. The discussion will be divided into three parts. The first part of this paper will examine the theorist's intellectual roots and will also mention some of other theorists and philosophers who influenced Durkheim's ideas. The second section of this paper will focus on the contributions which the theorist made to sociology and modern society. Finally, the last part of this paper will point out some of the theorist's ideas which were criticized as faulty or were subsequently viewed as unsupported by more recent research. This paper will also draw from some of the ideas which are discussed in Durkheim's book, The Rules of Sociological Method.
II. DURKHEIM'S INTELLECTUAL ROOTS AND INFLUENCES
Emile Durkheim's intellectual opinions were "rooted overwhelmingly in French intellectual history" (Durkheim, 1974, p. xlv). In addition to being influenced by French intellectual history, Durkheim was influenced by many people, ranging from his own teacher, Fustel de Coulanges, to Descartes (Durkheim, 1974, p. xlv). Moreover, like Max Weber and Vilfredo Pareto, Durkheim studied the works of Marx in his early education. And, also like Weber and Pareto, Durkheim concluded that there were significant problems with Marxism, and thus, all of the theorists--including Durkheim--spent a great deal of energy and writing about how their views of sociology differed from and were preferable to the sociological tenets espoused by Marxism (Berger, 1977, p. xi).
Both Durkheim and Weber believed that all individuals need
"to give [themselves] to something beyond [themselves]" (Parsons, 1961, p. 687). However, Durkheim describes this need as an attitude of moral respect, which he claims is the exalting nature of ideas shared by all the members of a group. The intellectual roots for Durkheim's theories about the relationship...