durkheim the founder of sociology

1) society as an organism, with needs of its own and a drive to survive

SOLIDARISTIC

2) durkheim's status as a founder

--aim to create a science of morality and develop measurements of moral facts

--morality is historically and culturally specific

--sociology as guiding public policy

3) what is the significance of the division of labor?

--wrong answers: gains in wealth vs dehumanization (smith vs marx)

--right answer: maintenance and promotion of social solidarity (durkheim): the division of labor glues society together

4) comparing and contrasting solidarity by similarities (mechanical solid'y, based on collective consciousness) with solidarity by complementary differences (organic solid'y, based on the division of labor)

5) the law as an indicator of the type of social solidarity in effect

-- INDICATOR VARIABLES: how can we measure something so intangible as group values?

--punitive vs restitutory law

--crime as an offense against the collective consciousness

--punishment is for the non-criminal

6) key consequences of the trend towards organic solidarity

--more specialization, more complexity

--more individuation of identity (for primitive, the individual qua individual did not exist)

--for us, the CULT OF THE INDIVIDUAL

--more difficulty breaking society apart

--homo duplex: modern humans are part individual consciousness, part collective consciousness

--more anomie: loss of sense of purpose and of connectedness to the whole; absence of regulation

--try to do away with the "forced division of labor": e.g. inheritance laws, inequality of opportunity

Finally, when making or thinking about functionalist arguments, focus on: complementary differences; group norms; how people occupy roles; shared core beliefs