SOC499H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Sui Generis, Phratry, Social Fact
Document Summary
Categories: have a definite form and specific qualities (such as minutes, weeks, months for time, or north, south, inches, kilometers for space). The characteristics of the categories, furthermore, vary from culture to culture, sometimes greatly, leading durkheim to believe that they are of a social origin. Durkheim argues that the categories share the same properties as concepts. Categories, like concepts, have the qualities of stability and impersonality. Like concepts, then, categories have a necessarily social function and are the product of social interaction. Individuals could therefore never create the categories on their own. Durkheim treats the categories as collective representation and studies them as such. Durkheim argues, the categories are the natural, sui generis result of the co-existence and interaction of individuals within a social framework. As repr sentations collectives created by society, the categories exist independently of the individual and impose themselves onto the individual"s mind.
