Editing Émile Durkheim (section)

==Inspirations==
During his university studies at the ENS, Durkheim was influenced by two [[Neo-Kantianism|neo-Kantian]] scholars: [[Charles Renouvier]] and [[Émile Boutroux]].<ref name="Calhoun2002-103" /> The principles Durkheim absorbed from them included [[rationalism]], scientific study of morality, anti-[[utilitarianism]], and [[secular education]].<ref name="Calhoun2002-104" /> His methodology was influenced by [[Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges]], a supporter of the [[scientific method]].<ref name="Calhoun2002-104" />

=== Comte ===
A fundamental influence on Durkheim's thought was the [[sociological positivism]] of [[Auguste Comte]], who effectively sought to extend and apply the [[scientific method]] found in the [[natural science]]s to the [[social science]]s.<ref name="Calhoun2002-104" /> According to Comte, a true social science should stress empirical facts, as well as [[Inductive reasoning|induce]] general [[scientific law]]s from the relationship among these facts. There were many points on which Durkheim agreed with the positivist thesis:

* First, he accepted that the study of society was to be founded on an examination of facts. 
* Second, like Comte, he acknowledged that the only valid guide to objective knowledge was the scientific method. 
* Third, he agreed with Comte that the social sciences could become scientific only when they were stripped of their [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] abstractions.<ref name="Calhoun2002-104" />

=== Realism ===
A second influence on Durkheim's view of society beyond Comte's positivism was the [[Epistemology|epistemological]] outlook called ''social [[scientific realism|realism]]''. Although he never explicitly espoused it, Durkheim adopted a realist perspective in order to demonstrate the existence of social realities outside the individual and to show that these realities existed in the form of the objective relations of society.<ref name="Morrison_152">{{harvp|Morrison|2006|p=152}}</ref> As an epistemology of science, ''realism'' can be defined as a perspective that takes as its central point of departure the view that external social realities exist in the outer world and that these realities are independent of the [[subjectivity|individual's perception]] of them.

This view opposes other predominant philosophical perspectives such as [[empiricism]] and [[positivism]]. Empiricists, like [[David Hume]], had argued that all realities in the outside world are products of human sense perception, thus all realities are merely perceived: they do not exist independently of our perceptions, and have no causal power in themselves.<ref name="Morrison_152" /> Comte's positivism went a step further by claiming that scientific laws could be deduced from empirical observations. Going beyond this, Durkheim claimed that sociology would not only discover "apparent" laws, but would be able to discover the ''inherent nature'' of society.

=== Judaism ===
Scholars also debate the exact influence of Jewish thought on Durkheim's work. The answer remains uncertain; some scholars have argued that Durkheim's thought is a form of [[Jewish culture|secularized Jewish thought]],<ref group="lower-roman">{{harvp|Meštrović|1993|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lqGUxDs3K_UC&pg=PA37 p. 37]}}: "While Durkheim did not become a Rabbi, he may have transformed his father's philosophical and moral concerns into something new, his version of sociology."</ref><ref>{{harvp|Strenski|1997|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nyneB7F0m0sC pp. 1–2]}}</ref> while others argue that proving the existence of a direct influence of Jewish thought on Durkheim's achievements is difficult or impossible.<ref>{{harvp|Pickering|2001|loc=[https://books.google.com/books/about/Emile_Durkheim.html?id=amP-MyZAL-cC p. 79]}}</ref>