Emile Durkheim: Sociologist and Philosopher (Critical Studies in the Humanities)

Emile Durlffieim Sociologist and Philosopher

Dominick LaCapra

Critical Studies in the Humanities Victor E. Taylor - Series Editor

The Davies Group, Publishers

Aurora, Colorado

11

Emile Durkheim: Sociologist and Philosopher

Emile Durkheim: Sociologist and Philosopher

Copyright© 1972 by Cornell University Revised edition copyright© 2001 by Dominick LaCapra All righ ts reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced, stored in an information retrieval system, or transcribed, in any form or by any means electronic, digital, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the express written permission of the publisher, and the holder of copyright. Submit all inquiries and requests to the publisher. Address all requests to: The Davies Group, Publishers PO Box 440 140 Aurora, CO 80044-0140 USA

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data LaCapra, Dominick, 1939Emile Durkheim : sociologist and philosopher I Dominick LaCapra. p. em. (Critical studies in the humanities) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-888570-60-1 (alk. paper) I. Durkheim, Emile, 1858-1917. 2. Durkheimian school of sociology. I. Series. HM465 .L33 2001 30 1' .092 dc21 2001028598

Cover photo Digital Vision Printed in the United States of America. Published 200 1. The Dav ies Gro up , Publishers. Aurora, Colorado. 1234567890

For Ruthie with gratitude

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Emile Durkheim: Sociologist and Philosopher

Critical Studies i n the Humanities Victor E. Taylor, Series Editor This open-ended series provides a unique publishing venue by combining single volumes issuing fro m landmark scholarship with pedagogy-related interdisciplinary c o l lections of readings. This principle of cross-publishing, placing scholarship and ped agogy side by side within a single series, cre­ ates a wider horizon for specialized research and more general intellectual discovery. In the broad field of the humanities, the Critical Studies in the Humanities Series is committed to preserving key monographs, encouraging new perspectives, and developing imp ortant connections to pedagogical is­ sues. Proposal> for submission should go to the Series Editor, Victor E. Taylor, Department of English and Humanities, York College of Pennsylvania, York, PA 17405-7199. Sharyn Clough, Siblings Under the Skin: Feminism, Social justice and Analytic Philosophy Sander L Gilman, Nietzschean Parody: An Introduction to Reading Nietzsche D o m i n ick LaCapra, Emile Durkheim: Sociologist and Philosopher Gregg Lambert, Report to the Academy (re: the NEW conflict ofthefaculties) Michael Strysick, E d . , The Politics of Community Dennis Weiss, Interpreting Man

Contents

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Foreword

.

Vlt

Preface, 2001

1. Introduction

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1

2. Durkheim's Milieu

25

3. The Division ofSocial Labor

15

Quo Vadis

15

Mechanical and Organic Solidarity

79

Conscience Collective

83

Crime and Punshment

86

Traditional Differentiation

96

Theory ofChange

110

Residual Dou bts

114

Contract and Solidarity

118

Modem Social Pathology

122

4. Suicide and Solidarity The Object and Limitations ofSuicide

137 137

Anomie and Egoism

147

Altruism and Fatalism

160

Durkheim and weber

165

From Analysis to Refonn

170

5. Theory and Practice

179

Sociolog]J, History. and Reform

179

Corporatism

200

The Individual and Society

211

v1

6.

Emile Durkheim: Sociologist and Philosopher

The Sacred and Society The Theory ofReligion Sociology and Epistemology Social Metaphysic

235 236 251 262

Epilogue

281

Selected Bibliography

285

Index

297

Foreword

In the past several decades, the dominance of critical theory i n int erdisc­ i p l inary scholarship has l e d to the reformulation of the basic propositions guiding research in the humanities and social sciences. While scholars i n various disciplines continue t o express their concern over the status of tradi­ tional forms of inquiry in response to the radical nature of critical theory, i t is important t o note that these theoretical incursions into traditional research methods h ave made possible p roductive reappraisals of key historical hgures and their contributions to intel lectual life. In Emile Durkheim: Sociologist and Philosopher, Dominick La Capra, a leading theoretical historian, offers an important revi sed critical analysis of D urkheim's methodological and philo­ sophical pursuits, with an emphasis on the metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical problems inherent in fo rming constructs of the cultural and social spheres. While Durkheim's thought did not " i nfluence significantly, if at a l l , the writings of Roland Barthes, Gilles Deleuze, Jacques Derrida, M i c h e l Foucault, Julia Kristeva, Jacques Lacan, Jean-Fran