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What are the problems in observing social facts in Durkheim's views?. (UPSC CSE Mains 2020 - Sociology, Paper 1)
- Durkheim’s theory of social facts has been highly criticized, for it completely ignores the importance of individual and places too much importance to society. It is very difficult to take out the whole from neither the individual nor the individual from the whole. The society is made up of the individuals and Emile Durkheim as to my observations has to a very great extent as per his idea of social fact, by pass in a very intelligent manner the whole agenda. Durkheim has been discredited for neglecting the Individual in his analysis of social facts.
- On the second note, some scholars like Barnes explicitly makes it clear that Durkheim has not made it clear anywhere as to what he means by the term things in the context of social facts. The term can mean many things to many people. Since people can interpret a theory from different perspective, it would have been fair enough for Durkheim to clarity what he meant by things so that others interpretations may tie to his or understand his position by way of comparison.
- Lastly his contention of social phenomena has been criticized as being fallacious. The argument here is that, If his criteria of exteriority and constraint as the basic characteristics of social phenomena are to be accepted then free co-operation, free contractual relations, free mutual aid, free solidarity, free learning and thousands of similar facts are to be excluded from the realm of social facts.
- Phenomenologists (kind of like precursors to Postmodernists), argue that the whole concept of an external reality is itself flawed, and that instead of one external reality which constrains individuals there are a multitude of more fluid and diverse social realities which arise and fade with social interaction. From this perspective, we may think there is a system of social norms and values out there in the world, but this is only ‘real’ for us if we think it to be real; this is nothing more than a thought, and thus in ‘reality’ we are really free as individuals.
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