Sociology 101- Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sociology 101- - Essay Example Durkheim is one of the principal architects of sociology along with other prominent names in the subject, Karl Marx and Max Weber. He is also regarded as a father of sociology for institutionalizing and the first professor of social science in France. Durkheim had significant contributions with the establishment of sociology particularly the combination of empirical research with sociological theory. He had also addressed topics such as study of suicide, sociological theory of religion, and refining positivism. Early Age. Durkheim was from a family of French Jews and grew up in Epinal, Lorraine. He was born on April 15, 1858. His great grandfather, grandfather, and his father were all rabbis (Calhoun, 2002). His father, Moise, was also Chief Rabbi of the Vosges and Haute-Marne. Although destined for rabbinate, he was the one who broke the rabbinical chain in their family by living in secular life particularly when he arrived in Paris. At an early age he switched school, from rabbinic al school to academic ones. Although he had close relationship with his family, relation, Jewish community especially the Alsace-Lorraine community, he did not follow Jewish traditions. (Poggi, 2000) Durkheim had successfully entered in Ecole Normale Superieure, one of the most prestigious mainstream public universities in France, in his third attempt. Their batch at Ecole was regarded as one of the most brilliant batches in the nineteenth century. He was in batch with the known socialist Jean Jaures, who became his long-time friend, along with philosophers Henri Bergson, Bustave Belot, Edmond Goblot, Felix Rauh, and Maurice BlondelHenri Bergson, Bustave Belot, Edmond Goblot, Felix Rauh, and Maurice Blondel, also with Pierre Janet, a psychologist, historians Henri Berr and Camille Jullian, geographer Lucien Gallois, and Ferdinand Brunot, a linguist. Details of his historical account described Durkheim to be pessimistic yet he was always part of the intellectual philosophical debates and political discussions. Eventually he became a strong advocate of the republican cause (Calhoun, 2002). At Ecole, Durkheim had studied under the supervision of Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges, who was notable for his social scientific perspective and a purist. Aside from the influence of Coulanges to Durkehiem, his readings of Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer’s works were credited that influenced him to be exposed with social science at an early age. He then became very interested with the scientific approach to society. This influence also reflected from his academic performance. It was cited that Durkheim was initially interested in humanistic studies, psychology, and philosophy but eventually had shifted his interest in ethics and early scope of sociology. With his aggregation in Philosophy, he had graduated in 1882. Academic Performance. Durkheim is regarded as an advance student during his studies at Ecole. He was included as one of the brightest in his batch. During his studies, he was less of political and more of academics by orientation. Later on, he developed inclination in scientific studies than academics, leading him to criticize the scholastic structure of Ecole. In 1885, he went to Germany to pursue his focus study in sociology at Marburg, Berlin and Leipzig. (Calhoun, 2002) Journey to Sociology. One of the contributions of Durkheim to sociology is the empirical method in sociological research. In his personal essays, he revealed that he had appreciated the value of the empiricism during