Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Durkheim and Society

Emile Durkheim is focused mainly on the idea that all is interrelated within a society. For Durkheim, society exist because we as a society agree it must exist. We as humans create the laws, the values and even the punishments that exist in it. Society is made by humans, and thus humans are the society and moreover society IS human. Do you agree that in order for things to exist we as humans first have to accept they must? And if you do, do you believe then that all that exists is human?

4 comments:

  1. I think for us humans we do create society. Let’s take a look at this historically back in the 50’s it was taboo to even hold hands with a boyfriend or girlfriend in public and today there are all kinds of public displays of affection. As humans in society people started to change what was the norm and what was accepted by society. Things exist because society lets them exist, take homosexuality society still is not very fond of homosexual lifestyles but has become a little more tolerant than in the past and although it is controversial, society is more open to allowing people be themselves regardless of sexual preference. As far as everything that exists being human, I don’t think there is a direct yes or no for this question. Today technology is the most advanced it has ever been and humans have been able to create that technology. I do believe though that things happen that cannot necessarily be a through explained through a human cause. For example, someone who has been diagnosed with cancer and only is given a few months to live, but then miraculously cured. This can be a number of things, something divine, the technology made by the human failed to give an accurate test. On a larger scale most things that exist are human but there are going to be things that do exist that humans cannot figure out and explain.

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  2. Great comment, I agree with you on all of your points but you did pose one more question for me.... you mentioned that a person can be miraculosly cured, technology, human error or even something divine could be attributed to this person's cure.... Well would you agree then that everything you mentioned (even the divine part) is in reality what makes society? To be more clear, do you think that even divinity is human made?

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  3. I think for us humans we do create society and we choose what is acceptable or not. For example we create laws, rules, regulations, morals and values that are human. Were do we get all this ideas? It comes from the beginnings of this world and our ancestors that were also human. What is godly today was human at once. Ghandi was human at once and now a divine spirit. I think it has to do with your own perception, ideas and what you believe based on your own personal experiences. I also agree that the technology has evolved tremendously over the last several years but it is still created by humans.

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  4. I believe we as humans DO create society and everythings that 'exist' because we as humans agree upon these ideas. This forms a type of both objective and subjective culture, involving us and our individual will and something that we create and comes to dominate us, which is society, we all can imagine society as something outside of ourselves almost so thick that we can touch it and it floats on top of us, it is something that we created, that canbe empirically studied, within other thoughts which would definitely support the idea that we agree upon these things, we make them social facts and we revolve around them, and needless to say, we did create them all, that is why i support the idea that we create whatever exists.

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