Durkheims relationship between law, social solidarity and morality Essay

Durkheims relationship between law, social solidarity and morality - Essay Example As Lukes pointed out about Durkheim's approach, "Durkheim's criticisms of charity as the basis of social solidarity are explored. His Jewish background is related to his emphasis on justice as well as his scorn for charity as the basis for social solidarity. Implications for social theory are discussed briefly. "(Lukes 1989) Durkheim' s conception of justice has been neglected relative to other aspects of his thought, as is true for Durkheim' s political thought in general ( Lukes 1989). To be sure, Durkheim's concern with justice has been addressed, but usually in a narrow context. For example, Sirianni (1984) addresses it only within the confines of Durkheim's The Division of Labor in Society ([1893] 1933). Similarly, Lacroix (1981) concludes that there exists a hiatus between Durkheim's political sociology and sociology of religion. A similar hiatus seems to exist regarding the sociologists who have pursued Durkheim's political thought and those who have addressed Durkheim's personal as well as professional interest in religion, such as Bellah (1973), Filloux (1977), and Pickering (1984). In particular, Durkheim's conception of justice has not been analyzed in the context of his Judaic heritage." (Cotterrell 1997) the objective of this paper is to examine Durkheim's accounts of the above discussed issues and to examine his perspectives As well the importance of his accounts and tenets will be examined during the discussion. Durkheim's sociology will be presented and reviewed. Durkheim was especially concerned with establishing a "science of moral facts" (see also Hall, 1987). "This was a concern shared by many of his contemporaries, but what set Durkheim apart was that he rejected the possibility of establishing morality upon charity, even Christian charity, and opted instead for justice." (Lukes 1989) Durkheim also held a concept about his definition of justice and its close connection to the idea of contract. It is important to keep in mind that eventually, he apprehended the contract as being binding upon the individual and society after taking his account of justice and law into consideration it can be seen that Durkheim and the concept he accounts for is remarkably similar to Jewish conceptions of covenant and justice" as (Hunt 1978) pointed out. The correlation between Durkheim's view of justice and the la may be due to his personal accounts as a Jew. when considering the accounts and concepts of Durkheim it Is important to keep in mind that he "represents a break from the earlier generation of nineteenth-century social evolutionary thinkers." (Roach 2003) Although Durkheim was never officially trained in sociology, he has many accounts that are relevant to the study and tenets too the discipline. Durkheim said "social life comes from a double source, the likeness of consciences and the division of social labor." (Durkheim, 1933, p.226) Social cohesion based upon the likeness and similarities among individuals in a society, and largely dependent on common rituals and routines. Common among prehistoric and pre-agricultural societies, and lessens in predominance as modernity increases. (Durkheim p 76) He also said that "Social cohesion based upon the dependence individuals in more advanced society have on each other. Common among industrial societies as the division of labor increases. Though individuals perform different tasks and often have different values