1858-1917. French sociologist, one of the
founders of modern sociology, who also
influenced social anthropology. He was the
first lecturer in social science at Bordeaux
University 1887-1902, professor of education
at the Sorbonne in Paris from 1902 and the
first professor of sociology there in 1913.
He examined the bases of social order and the
effects of industrialization on traditional
social and moral order; he attempted to
establish sociology as a respectable and
scientific discipline, capable of diagnosing
social ills and recommending possible cures.
His four key works are The Division of Labour
in Society 1893, comparing social order in
small-scale societies with that in industrial
ones; The Rules of Sociological Method/Les
Regles de la methode 1895, outlining his own
brand of functionalism and proclaiming
positivism as the way forward for sociology
as a science; Suicide 1897, showing social
causes of this apparently individual act; and
Les Formes elementaires de la vie
religieuse/The Elementary Forms of Religion
1912, a study of the beliefs of Australian
Aborigines, showing the place of religion in
social solidarity.