Summary
Summary Durkheim - The Division of Labour in Society (notes)
- Course
- Institution
Notes on Durkheim's 'The Division of Labour in Society'
[Show more]
1 review
By: JamesCameron • 7 year ago
AAAAAAAA
Seller
Follow
patrickfleming
Reviews received
Content preview
Emile Durkheim - The Division of Labour in SocietyBook One
Chapter Two: Mechanical Solidarity Through Likeness
1.
● There must be a common element in ‘crime’, across time and space (communities)
○ crime causes punishment, and ‘the unity of effect shows the unity of the
cause’
■ (maybe if we accept both as social constructs, but even
then, many auxiliary causes must surely be added to crime to be a sufficient
cause of punishment)
○ the common element isn’t harm to society, cause not all crimes are
harmful, and some things (e.g. economic crises) are harmful without being criminal
○ not that they seem harmful to society, because this is obvious and
tautological
○ ‘the only common characteristic of all crimes is that they consist...in acts
universally disapproved of by members of each society’
■ the rules of society are ‘graven in all consciences’, and
where they aren’t, it is ‘an undeniable sign of pathological perversion’
● ‘Every written law’ (except penal law, whatever that can mean) has two objects: to
prescribe obligations and to define sanctions
○ penal law just sets out sanctions, so prescriptions are implicit
● In primitive societies, repressive justice doesn’t function through ‘special magistracy’,
but is diffuse
○ this is because its object is the enactment of a conscience common to all
○ but even where judicial power is wielded by a privileged class/group,
they still represent the common conscience
● Some acts e.g. incest(!!!) are the ‘object of quite general aversion’, but are immoral rather
than criminal
○ so we can see that the collective sentiments to which crime corresponds
must have ‘a certain average intensity’ - they must be strongly engraven in all
consciences
■ but they must also be precise - ‘relative to a very definite
practice’, rather than aspirational to some vague object such as filial love
● The common conscience is ‘independent of the particular conditions in which individuals
are placed; they pass it on and it remains’
○ it is the same in north/south, cities/country
■ (what on earth could have this universal regularity? what
is not caused by particular conditions?)
● An action is criminal because it shocks the common conscience; it does not shock the
common conscience because it is criminal
● What about cases which are repressed, but aren’t strongly disapproved of by the
collective conscience?
○ e.g. encroachment of judiciary on executive, religion on the state etc
(bureaucratic/technocratic issues)
○ governments are capable of attaching sanction to certain conduct
spontaneously
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller patrickfleming. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $6.47. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
67866 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now