The French sociological school is considered one of the areas of sociological research, the founder of which is E. Durkheim. In European sociology, this section occupies a special place, since it had a huge impact on subsequent scientific trends. You can briefly learn about the ideas of the French sociological school, its representatives and their concepts by reading this article.
Basic concepts
Adherents of the French sociological school regard society as a system of moral interconnection between people. Moreover, all social relations for the predominant part of society are imposed and are forced in nature. In their opinion, the laws of society should be studied only through the prism of socio-psychological factors. Proponents of these ideas adhered to the positions according to which any events, phenomena, circumstances often occur at the will of individual entities that have coercive force against other members of society.
If we consider the French sociological school briefly, it should also be noted the role of consciousness of each individual and collective representations, without which it is impossible to guarantee the stability of social relations, views, interests, goals. Of great importance in this matter is culture and religion, which serve as a connecting link uniting society.
Individuality and society
Representatives of the French sociological school studied the customs, moral and legal norms, the worldview of uneducated individuals. In particular, Emil Durkheim was convinced that traditions and cultural order predetermine the community and unity of the people, and this is its main strength. Customs dominate the consciousness of each person individually. It was to this conclusion that the scientist came, because the basis of his judgments was the idea of man as an individual, biological and social unit.
The position of the famous French sociologist, the founder of the French sociological school, has much in common with the opinions of other representatives of this scientific trend. The main element that is displayed on the individual’s relationship with the people around him is the biological nature of his psyche and psychoemotional balance. If we consider a person as an individual from a material point of view, he looks like an isolated and independent being, but at the same time his consciousness is influenced by public opinion and the influence of various social factors.
Representatives of the French sociological school identify individuality with biological uniqueness, but at the same time, the social essence of man, in their opinion, is formed in the environment. Therefore, the human psyche is more correctly viewed not only from a biological, but also from a social point of view.
When did this scientific movement begin?
As already noted, the founder of the French sociological school is Emil Durkheim. The scientific movement is based on the journal L'Année Sociologique (Sociological Yearbook), created by the scientist. Representatives of the French sociological school in psychology are also considered the following theoretical researchers: M. Moss, P. Lapi, S. Bugle, P. Foconne, J. Davie, Levy-Bruhl.
As an independent scientific trend, the school arose at the beginning of the last century. The birth of the French sociological school of Durkheim took place during the publication of the Sociological Yearbook, that is, from 1898. During World War I, the publication of the magazine was suspended. The publication of scientific articles, monographs, reviews of French sociologists resumed only in 1925. And although officially the publication of the journal was discontinued in 1927, the French sociological school continued its activities until the outbreak of World War II.
Emil Durkheim was the leader of this scientific movement until 1917. After the death of the founder, the French sociological school was actually headed by M. Moss. In addition to sociologists and psychologists, well-known economists, ethnographers, historians, and legal scholars participated in the publication of the journal.
The characteristic features of the French direction in sociology
A distinctive feature of this school from other scientific courses is the use of the analysis method in sociological research. Moreover, the adherents of the ideas of the French school used it in the framework of philosophical positivism - this became a converging, integrating concept in the development of the theoretical sphere.
In addition, special attention was paid to issues of social solidarity. Durkheim (as the founder of the French sociological school) openly adhered to liberal positions, seeking a peaceful settlement of the problems associated with class divisions and contradictions. Without taking into account the interests of the poor social classes, there could be no solution to social conflicts. The main features of the French sociological school (as a scientific direction) are:
- the definition of current circumstances as social reality in relation to changes in the biological or psychological nature of the individual;
- the importance of society in the formation of individual behavior and human character;
- affirmation of sociology as an objective, independent positive discipline that includes various anthropological directions.
The structure of the scientific industry
Adherents of the French sociological school were able to prove that sociology combines several sections:
- general sociology;
- actual theoretical problems;
- society, the structure of society;
- religious studies;
- legal sociology.
The close interweaving of scientific directions implied the need to attract economists, legal scholars, linguists, historians, philosophers, and cultural scientists to research. A separate place in this system of sciences belongs to psychology. The French sociological school has a high level of scientific, theoretical and practical integration.
Durkheim concept
Dualism is the fundamental idea of the concept of the founder of the French school. The sociologist regarded man as a dual being: on the one hand, a biological organism endowed with a psyche, on the other hand, a social organism. Moreover, in both cases, a person is perceived as an individual, an independent unit of society. However, it is society, according to Durkheim, that plays a paramount role in the formation of social essence and is reflected in the formation of mental health.
Emil Durkheim, who is the founder of the French sociological school, believed that due to dualism it is possible to distinguish people from animals who, by their nature, cannot have public experience. The scientist considers society as a separate reality. The society is a spiritual system, a complex consisting of various opinions, knowledge, and the methodology of collective ideology. Society serves as a natural reflector of popular opinion.
The main factors in the unification of the social environment are: speech, language, communication skills of each group member. These are collective forms of communication that have resulted from the long development of the social environment as a whole, and not of the individual. The speech surrounding a person forcibly affects him, but he accepts it without resistance and the search for an alternative.
At the same time, Durkheim accepted society as a one-sided structure in the system of collective representations and public consciousness. Consequently, the development of thinking has no connection with human activity. The direct process of implanting collective representations of society into the consciousness of each individual is interpreted as the interaction of personal and social.
Levi-Bruhl Ideas
Unlike the previous sociologist, the founder of the French sociological school of Durkheim, Levy-Bruhl adhered to the thesis about the types of human thinking and some aspects of the thinking of primitive people. He devoted many scientific articles to the theme of the formation of human society, the interaction of individual subjects in it. According to Levy-Bruhl, accumulating knowledge about the world, the laws of the existence of the Universe, a person is constantly changing the form of thinking. Today it is a logical one, which has replaced the primitive or pralogical type of thinking.
The internal reasonings of ancient people are illogical, since they have a magical orientation. Primitive man could not explain those things that seem elementary to modern man and do not require interpretation. The thinking of man in ancient times was subject to the laws of communion, that is, people believed that any similar objects were connected by some kind of magical power, which is transmitted by contact.
Alogical thinking is reflected today, manifested by various superstitions and prejudices. Pralogical thinking is etiological in nature - this means that primitive people did not recognize accidents, but did not pay much attention to contradictions and did not need argumentation.
Levy-Bruhl did not consider illogical thinking as a stage preceding logic in the modern sense. Then it was only a structure that functions in parallel with logical thought. During the period of development of society and the emergence of labor activity, a transition began from pralogic thinking, which was more a product of intuition and intuition, to consistent reasoning with the search for patterns. Here you can also find the impact of society on human consciousness through a system of collective experience and ideas (religion, traditions, various ritual rites, etc.).
Thoughts of Levy-Strauss Claude
A representative of the late period of the French sociological school is the scientist Levy-Strauss Claude. He was engaged in a detailed study of not only sociology, but also ethnography, was one of the adherents of the idea of structuralism. The theory of thinking of primitive people, created by Levy-Strauss Claude, is contrary to the arguments of Levy-Bruhl. The ethnographer was of the opinion that the main condition for the development of the culture of society is the desire of individuals to unity, the combination of sensory and rational principles, which is not typical for representatives of modern civilization.
The ethnological studies of Levy-Strauss Claude allowed us to determine the principles of structural anthropology in all areas of human activity:
- the study of customs, traditions, cultural phenomena in the context of national characteristics;
- study of these phenomena as a multi-level and holistic system;
- analysis of the variability of the culture.
The end result of the study is the modeling of the structure, which determines the hidden logic inherent in both individual variants of the phenomenon, and virtual transitions from one object to another. Moreover, the author considered primitive thinking as a manifestation of a collective unconscious mind, common to ancient and modern people. It consists of several stages and operations: combining binary positions and analyzing the correspondence between the general and specific opposition.
Pierre Janet: Key Points
Pierre Janet is the author of many works on psychology. The French sociological school includes his name in the list of adherents of the theory of society and individuals. The scientist did a tremendous clinical work, during which he tried to find the causes of the imbalance between mental functions. His observations have much in common with the conclusions of Sigmund Freud, but Janet did not engage in psychoanalysis. The Frenchman sought to draw a line between norm and pathology in human mental health, but without taking into account the consciousness of the psyche, and considering the unconscious, Janet limited it to the simplest forms of mental automatism.
Janet is a representative of the French sociological school in psychology, who was one of the first to try to build a common psychological line, within which he gave an interpretation of all existing mental phenomena. The scientist considered the facts of consciousness in the context of objective psychology. Pierre Janet used the observable as the subject of research, avoiding behaviorism. He noted that it is more correct to consider consciousness as an act of a special form of elementary behavior.
The psychologist developed his own system of hierarchy of reflex actions - from primitive to higher intellectual acts. The works of Janet played a large role in the development of sociology and psychology. The Russian scientist Vygotsky subsequently adhered to the theory of Janet in the process of studying a number of cultural-historical theories.
The researcher believed that the behavior of the individual is not reduced to a mechanism that automatically responds to a stimulus, a signal coming from outside. At the same time, behaviorists excluded consciousness from the field of the study of psychology. Pierre Janet called two fundamental conditions for the psychology of behavior:
- the phenomenon of consciousness as a special form of behavior;
- maximum attention should be paid to the formation of beliefs, reflection, reasoning, feelings.
According to the scientist, the definition of the model of verbal communication cannot be ignored. In his theory, Jeanet moved away from elementarism towards behaviorism, expanding the fields of psychology and including human phenomena in it. The researcher proved that the direct relationship between motivation and response indicates the adjustability of the behavioral line and the possibility of differentiating roles in society.
The Importance of Research in the Modern World
The result of the high degree of influence of the studies of the French sociological school on international relations is a combination of conservative and the latest theoretical trends. In France and many other modern states, there are manifestations of idealism, modernism, political realism and transnationalism, as well as Marxism and neo-Marxism. The main ideas of these areas are mentioned in the works of representatives of the French school.
The historical and sociological approach to the study of established international relations involves a detailed analysis of the work of historians, legal scholars, geographers, political scientists who have studied the problems of this sphere. In the formation of the fundamental methodological principles typical of French theorists, philosophical, sociological and historical thought, including Comte's positivism, played a role. In the works of the French philosopher, attention is focused on the structure of social life.
Studies of the authors of subsequent generations demonstrate the modifications that have taken place in the course of sociological thoughts, based on Durkheim's theoretical insights and based on Weber's methodological principles. In the sociology of international relations, the approach of both authors is very clearly formulated by well-known political scientists and publicists. In general, the sociology of Durkheim, according to Raymond Aron, allows us to understand the features of the behavior of people living in modern society, and "neurkheimism" (as the ideas of the followers of the French sociological school are called) are the opposite of Marxism. If, under Marxism, division into classes is implied by the political ideology of centralizing power, which subsequently leads to the leveling of the role of moral authority, neo-Turkism aims to restore the superiority of morality over thinking.
At the same time, it is impossible to deny the existence of a dominant ideology in society, as well as the irreversibility of the process of ideologization. Different strata of the population have different values, just as totalitarian and liberal societies are based on different theories. Reality, being the object of sociology, does not allow ignoring rationality, which is indispensable for the practical activities of public institutions.
If a person recognizes the influence of collective representations on him, his consciousness changes. It is no coincidence that the representatives of French sociology are permeated with a single thought: everything that is human in man has been inherited from society. - . , .