Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/478

 SUICIDE IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT STUDIES.

PROFESSOR DURKHEIM'S recent work on suicide 1 is, as the author himself declares, intended to illustrate his well-known conception of the social phenomenon, as unfolded in his pre- vious essay on the Mtthode Sociologique " * It deserves the most careful examination, since it offers a conclusive document for the complete appreciation of a doctrine which has raised the fiercest criticisms and has remained the manifestation of a soli- tary thought in the contemporary movement of social studies. Instead of answering his critics with theoretical dissertations, Durkheim has certainly done better in testing the value of his social interpretations through the study of a well-defined order of facts. Even if his attempt be a failure, and result in the demonstration of the inefficiency of his sociological conceptions, it is nevertheless true that his present researches on suicide lead to the most exhaustive exploration ever attempted since Wagner and Morselli of that phenomenon which seems to reflect, in a very typical way, the contrasts that imperil the life of modern societies. Thus, not only from a theoretical point of view, but also as an effective contribution to a scientific ascer- tainment of facts, the French professor's recent book commands the greatest interest.

I.

Durkheim commences by determining, above all, the notion of suicide. According to his definition, suicide is "every case of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or nega- tive act accomplished by the victim itself, with the knowledge of its producing just that result." 3 This definition has the

1 Le Suicide, tude dc Sociologie, Paris, Alcan. 1897, pp. xii-462. Let Regies de la Melhode Sociologique, Paris, Alcan. 1895, pp. viii-l86. ' Le Suicide, p. 5.

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