Emile Durkheim and Political Obligation

Introduction
1. He is widely regarded as the founder of the French School of Sociology.
2. His important works are – The Division of Labour in Society, Le Suicide etc
3. His sociology is described as macro-sociology because of his focus on large social
institutions and processes.
4. He is remembered for his contribution to holism and functionalism.
5. Holism is an approach which stresses that the study of sociology should focus on
the study of large institutions and processes. The main argument of holism is that
society is sui generis and has a reality unique to itself. It further states that society is
not reducible to the units that constitute it – individuals. In his words, “Society is not
a mere sum of individuals. Rather, the system formed by their association
represents a specific reality which has its own characteristics... The group thinks,
feels, and acts quite differently from the way in which its members would were
they isolated. If, then, we begin with the individual, we shall be able to
understand nothing of what takes place in the group.”
6. Functionalism is an approach which aims to discover the roles or the functions these
institutions and processes play in maintaining social order.

Durkheim and Obligation

1. He has connected the idea of obligation to that of morality. He believes that moral
law commands and we are bound to obey it.
2. To understand his ideas on obligation, we would need to understand first his ideas on
morality. In his words, “Man is a moral being, only because he lives in society. Let
all social life disappear and morality will disappear with it."
3. He discusses four types of morality –
a. Individual morality,
b. Domestic morality,
c. Civil morality, and
d. Social morality.
Each of these types of morality corresponds to a specific type of obligation.
Therefore, there are a total of four types of obligation that Durkheim talks about.

Individual Obligation
1. This type of obligation emerges from individual morality which obliges individual to
himself.
2. Every individual is comprised of two parts – body and soul. Our first duty towards
ourselves is, therefore, to conserve our bodies.
3. Conserving the body can also be understood as not having the right to commit
suicide.
4. The individual’s obligation towards the soul is about perfecting the intelligence and
sensibilities.
Domestic Obligation
1. It refers to the duty of family members towards each other.
2. Family is an important institution for individual’s training as it teaches people the
necessary virtue of disinterestedness.
3. By disinterestedness, Durkheim means something which is opposed to egoism. It is
that element which trains people to make sacrifices by keeping their self-interests
aside.
4. Family, as per Durkheim, is created by marriage which is a moral association
between a man and a woman.
5. The parents have an obligation towards the children to provide them with sufficient
moral and material support that ultimately enables them to live as free human beings.
Similarly, children have an obligation towards parents as they lack sufficient
intelligence and material resources to pursue their path.

Civil Obligation
1. It refers to the duties of the individuals towards those who occupy the same
territory.
2. Civil obligation is political in nature and therefore, we can say that his ideas of
political obligation can be found under this category of obligation.
3. The first obligation of the citizen to the state is obedience of the laws. Other duties
include payment of taxes and military service.
4. Civil disobedience is permitted in non-democratic societies only. It is not permitted
in democratic societies where people can express their opinions and influence public
policies.
5. The obligation of the government towards the citizens is also discussed by
Durkheim.
6. It is the duty of the state to protect the citizens against one another. It is the duty to
ensure safety of citizens.
7. Further, apart from protecting the individuality of the citizens, it is also the duty of the
citizens to lead the society to its proper end.

Social Obligation
1. It is of two types – positive obligation and negative obligation.
2. Positive obligation commands an action. Negative obligation forbids an action.
Both derive from moral law.
3. State derives its authority from the collective conscience of the society.
4. All the societies possess such a conscience and are held together by it in a moral
consensus.
5. He gave society a lot of importance. In his own words, “Man is only a moral being
because he lives in society, since morality consists in solidarity with the group,
and varies according to that solidarity. Cause all social life to vanish, and moral
life would vanish at the same time, having no object to cling to.”
Conclusion
(Homework)