Online research in philosophy

Emile Durkheim, the founder of French sociology, introduces secondary school students to the field of philosophy in this series of lectures. He pursues topics as diverse as philosophical psychology, logic, ethics, and metaphysics, in the course of attempting to articulate a unified philosophical position. Intellectual historians, historically-minded philosophers, and French historians will find the lectures a valuable historical document.

Introduction1 Anthony Giddens THEMES IN DURKHEIM'S POLITICAL WRITINGS Durkheim is not ordinarily thought of as an author who has made significant ...

In Professional Ethics and Civic Morals , Emile Durkheim outlined the core of his theory of morality and social rights which was to dominate his work throughout the course of his life. In Durkheim's view, sociology is a science of morals which are objective social facts, and these moral regulations form the basis of individual rights and obligations. This book is crucial to an understanding of Durkheim's sociology because it contains his much-neglected theory of the state as a moral institution, (...) and it provides an understanding of his critique of anomie and egoistic individualism. The growing interest in cultural revolution and moral regulation make this edition of Durkheim's classic work especially timely. The new preface by Bryan Turner sets the book in its intellectual and historical context, and illustrates the relevance of this work to present day debates on the state, society, and moral regulation. (shrink)

In The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912), Emile Durkheim sets himself the task of discovering the enduring source of human social identity.