Sociology 2270A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Sui Generis, Organicism, Scientific Method
13 Apr 2020
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Emile durkheim (1858-1917: originally a philosopher, established the first course and department of la sociologie in france. Key idea: we want to study the phenomenon objectively, rather than judge it. Organicism: society is a system of interconnected functions, bound together in some way. Note: durkheim isn"t so simplistic as to assume sociologists can infer sociological laws by direct analogy to biology - he wants to study them as their own unique phenomena. : we cannot know their mature through philosophical contemplation we must study them empirically: but there"s a problem: social phenomena are phenomena that we play a part in making, and which play a part in making us. Solution: take up the state of mind of a physicist, chemist or physiologist. Levine"s template - durkheim holds an organicist, descriptive realist views of society: " sociology is not the mere sum of individuals; the system formed by their association represents a specific reality which has its own characteristics"
