Emile Durkheim French thinker, one of the founders of sociology as an independent science, founder of professional sociology. Date of Birth: 15.04.1858 Country: France

1. Emile Durkheim: The Founder of Professional Sociology
2. Early Life and Education
3. Contributions to Sociology
4. Notable Work: "The Elementary Forms of Religious Life"

Emile Durkheim: The Founder of Professional Sociology

Emile Durkheim was a French thinker and one of the creators of sociology as an independent science. He is considered the founder of professional sociology. In contrast to the existing concepts of the origin of religion in his time, Durkheim argued that no observations of humans, either of the external world or of their own nature, could generate religious beliefs.

Early Life and Education

Emile Durkheim was born in 1858 in Epinal, Lorraine. In 1882, he graduated from the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and began teaching philosophy in high schools. From 1886 to 1902, he lectured at the University of Bordeaux, and from 1902, he was a professor at the Sorbonne, where he led one of the first sociology departments in the world. From 1898 to 1913, Durkheim published the journal "Année Sociologique" (Sociological Yearbook). The collaborators of the journal, who shared Durkheim's sociological views, formed the core of what is known as the "French sociological school," which held a leading position in European sociology until the 1930s. Durkheim passed away in 1917 in Fontenblau, near Paris.

Contributions to Sociology

Durkheim defended the specific character of social reality and its primary importance in shaping and regulating human consciousness and behavior. Based on this, he openly declared religion as a social phenomenon. In contrast to the existing concepts of the origin of religion in his time, Durkheim argued that no observations of humans, either of the external world or of their own nature, could generate religious beliefs. These beliefs could only arise within society, in the realm of collective representations that individuals receive not from their personal experiences, but from the social environment imposed on them. Durkheim assigned religion an important role in society and claimed that it would exist as long as humanity exists, only changing its forms.

Notable Work: "The Elementary Forms of Religious Life"

One of Durkheim's notable works on the study of religion is his last book, "The Elementary Forms of Religious Life: The Totemist System in Australia" (1912).