Emile Durkheim: the Division of Labor
Emile Durkheim and the Division of Labor
June 15, 2012
Emile Durkheim and the Division of Labor
Functionalism is one of the baselines in sociology and Emile Durkheim is one of the main players in defining the field of sociology as a science. He believed that every social structure existed only because it satisfied a specific social need. Additionally, it was Durkheim’s desire to delineate how sociology would be used and considered and to give it the tools of scientific methodology (Vissing, 2011). To integrate the tools of science with the theory of functionalism Durkheim examined how social structures integrated with social living. It was not until after Durkheim examined the interactions within the social structures that he came to terms with them. This paper will look at a result of Emile Durkheim’s application of August Compte 's theory of functionalism to his theory of the division of labor. Emile Durkheim claims in his theory of the division of labor that the division of labor is the main source in society’s solidarity and that it provides that solidarity (Durkheim, É. & Simpson, G., 1949). As I know very little about sociology, I will be paraphrasing through this paper extensively. Therefore, Emile Durkheim, using the functionalist theory postulates that with the Division of Labor society forms solidarity because as Durkheim states, dynamic and material density are positively correlated, and as population increases, survival requires a greater division of labor.
Although, August Comte brought to light the inherent capacities of a societal science it was Emile Durkheim, through dogged effort, which raised Comte’s theory to the level of a science. What Durkheim desired to impart on the science of sociology was respect for it, as a science and that would stand alone as its own scientific method. This drive to make the sociological method a science stems from a desire to show that the ethical study of social and cultural behavior could produce
June 15, 2012
Emile Durkheim and the Division of Labor
Functionalism is one of the baselines in sociology and Emile Durkheim is one of the main players in defining the field of sociology as a science. He believed that every social structure existed only because it satisfied a specific social need. Additionally, it was Durkheim’s desire to delineate how sociology would be used and considered and to give it the tools of scientific methodology (Vissing, 2011). To integrate the tools of science with the theory of functionalism Durkheim examined how social structures integrated with social living. It was not until after Durkheim examined the interactions within the social structures that he came to terms with them. This paper will look at a result of Emile Durkheim’s application of August Compte 's theory of functionalism to his theory of the division of labor. Emile Durkheim claims in his theory of the division of labor that the division of labor is the main source in society’s solidarity and that it provides that solidarity (Durkheim, É. & Simpson, G., 1949). As I know very little about sociology, I will be paraphrasing through this paper extensively. Therefore, Emile Durkheim, using the functionalist theory postulates that with the Division of Labor society forms solidarity because as Durkheim states, dynamic and material density are positively correlated, and as population increases, survival requires a greater division of labor.
Although, August Comte brought to light the inherent capacities of a societal science it was Emile Durkheim, through dogged effort, which raised Comte’s theory to the level of a science. What Durkheim desired to impart on the science of sociology was respect for it, as a science and that would stand alone as its own scientific method. This drive to make the sociological method a science stems from a desire to show that the ethical study of social and cultural behavior could produce