Reading 6: Durkheim, "On Mechanical and Organic Solidarity" What are the characteristics of mechanical solidarity? Is possible for mechanical solidarity to occur in modern society? Why or why not? Reading 7: Durkheim, "What is a Social Fact?" What is a social fact? What are some examples of social facts that you can think of? What is the relationship, if any, between structures/agency and social facts? Reading 8: Durkheim, "Anomic Suicide" To what is Durkheim referring to when he talks about anomie and anomic suicide? Why is Durkheim's discussion of suicide relevant to sociology? Reading 9: Durkheim, "Primitive Classifications" What does Durkheim mean when he claims that classifications are reflections of preexisting forms of social organization? What is the relationship between systems of classification and sentiment? Reading 10: Durkheim, "The Human Meaning of Religion" According to Durkheim, what is religion's purpose in society? Why does Durkheim claim that "nearly all great social institutions have been born in religion?" Reading 11: Reading Weber, "Objectivity in Social Science" According to Weber, why is there no "objective" scientific analysis of social phenomena/culture? According to Weber, there is no objective scientific analysis because people are consistently drawing on their own cultural values and biases and backgrounds when making analytical decisions. Things that seem like anomalies, we view as accidental and therefore scientifically unimportant. We view them as an outlier. “We wish to understand on the one hand the relationships and the cultural significance of individual events in their contemporary manifestations and on the other the cause their being historically so and not otherwise.” We determine what is important and worthy of being known; we study what is significant to us. Elements of events that we cannot account for we view as accidental and therefore scientifically unimportant (example: intersex).
