The Conception of the University in Emile Durkheim’s Sociology

Abstract

Durkheim conceives of education as a central mechanism for socializing and training autonomous individuals based in moral discipline. However, although the role of the first years of education with regard to the moral order has been sufficiently dealt with, that is not the case of his reflections on the university. This article looks at the way Durkheim conceived of the university in his time, contextualizing his proposal in the framework of the transformations in edu- cation under France’s Third Republic. At the same time, the authors analyze its role as an educator in the more complex, moral sense, since it must face the challenge of social differentiation.