Search

The social evolutionary philosophies of Herbert Spencer, Ludwig Gumplowicz and George Vacher de Lapouge show how Darwin's concept of the 'struggle for existence' was used in the late 19th century. Spencer emphasized inherited traits and thought competition led to progress. Gumplowicz emphasized groups and believed change was cyclical not progressive. Lapouge argued that conflict led to social degeneration. The outcome of such 19th century philosophies was the denial that social evolution was possible.

Emile Durkheim's lecture-notes and reviews reveal the theory of occupational corporations. Initially, Durkheim did not consider the occupational corporation to be as effective as the family in protecting the individual from harmful egoistic influences. He later attributed ethical and political functions to the occupational corporation. Durkheim argued that only the occupational corporation was capable of integrating society, as the family was disintegrating.

The aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of the content and methodological function of Durkheim's theory of human nature. Such attention as this topic has already received in the secondary literature has usually been a by-product of a concern with other, more salient aspects of Durkheim's sociology, such as his theories of suicide and anomie. As a result, his conception of man has not received the detailed examination that has been accorded to these other dimensions of his thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the controversial question of whether the theory of social solidarity contained in The Division of Labor in Society remained crucial to Durkheim's thinking after the book's publication in 1893. It is argued that this theory is rooted in a number of assumptions concerning primitive social life, the boundaries between nature and culture, and human nature. An analysis of material written after 1902 shows that Durkheim revised his approach to these topics to such an extent that he appears to be in the process of constructing a new theoretical framework for the investigation of social solidarity. In both the early and the later theories, however, the models of primitive social behavior, though different, perform similar intellectual functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents medical correspondence in Great Britain. Risk of pertussis vaccine; Hospital care for the dying; Prevention of alcoholism.