Émile Durkheim – The Social Scientific Study of Religion

In this module, Professor Sondra Hausner (University of Oxford) introduces some of the core premises of Émile Durkheim’s approach to religion. We focus particularly on: (i) Durkheim’s emphasis on the use of scientific method in the study of society; (ii) his understanding of societies as coherent, organised units, rather than merely collections of individuals, and his central interest in uncovering how social groups come together and sustain themselves over time; (iii) his work The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912), in which he argued that it was religion which enabled individuals to come together in this way; (iv) Durkheim’s definition of religion.

This lecture is part of a larger course on Émile Durkheim. The full course can be found here: https://massolit.io/courses/emile-dur...

MASSOLIT works with university academics to produce short video lectures in the arts, humanities and social sciences. It is available to schools and colleges on an institutional license as well as via private subscription: https://www.massolit.io/?source=yt

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