5 v. (xliv, 1314 p.) A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call numbers: KNIGHT HV6545.D84M3 / Few have perceived that Durkheim entertained two distinct
schemas of anomie and egoisme in his classic Suicide.
I shall demonstrate that Durkheim shifted on his analytical
axes from the notion that the absence of moral discipline
generates modern suicides, to the more significant insight
that anomie and egoisme are generated by the presence of extreme modern cultural sanctions. Absence/presence, too little/
too much--these are the key analytical axes around which
Durkheim's two schemas of suicide revolved.
Resting on his image of human nature (homo duplex) as inherently egoistic and insatiable, the first schema concerns
the absence of legitimate moral constraint over the pre-social
ego in the modern transitional crisis. The second schema,
which shifted the original burden of insatiability from the organic half of human nature to modern culture, concerns the
presence of cultural sanctions which absolutize individualism
and d.rives for "progress and perfection." Only selected parts
of the first schema have been perceived and pursued so far by sociologists.
In the second schema, all four suicidal types are seen
as the "exaggerated or deflected forms of virtues." Both anomie
and egoisme proceed from common sources; they differ in their prime mode of expression .. Anomie is active; egoisme
passive. When extreme individualism and drives for "progress
and perfection" are turned against the external world, we see anomie--the "infinity of desires'--and the collapse of the
will in frustration, as seen in suicides in the economic arena.
This ethos,is supported by what I shall call the "Anglo
Utilitarian Cultural Tradition." Further, when these twin
sanctions for absolute individualism and legitimate insatiability
are turned inward against the self, we witness egoisme--the "infinity of dreams'--and the collapse of the will
and imagination in frustration and exhaustion seen in suicides
of artists, poets, and intellectuals. This ethos of
angst and the "journey into the interior," in which suicide
becomes a vocation, is sanctioned by what I shall call the
"Romantic-Idealistic Cultural Tradition." Finally, these ironic and destructive outcomes of some
of our highest aspirations are then linked with Weber's work in the sociology of religion and culture. As an "infinity of
desires" sanctioned by a dominant modern cultural tradition,
anomie is interpreted as the secularized outcome of Protestant
"inner-light," "inner-worldly asceticism." As an "infinity of dreams" sanctioned by another dominant contemporary
cultural tradition, egoisme is interpreted as the secularized
outcome of Protestant "inner-light," "inner-worldly
mysticism." These twin expressions of our highest callings and heroic ideals are chronic forms of the "moral anarchy"
and "diseases of the infinite" plaguing the modern world.
Durkheim's moral philosophy of "human finitude" and health
as the "golden mean,'" lead us to recognize, then, that when our virtues are pushed to extremes, they also become, ironically,
our special vices. / Adviser: G. Benton Johnson
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uoregon.edu/oai:scholarsbank.uoregon.edu:1794/8442 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | McCloskey, David Daniel, 1947- |
| Publisher | University of Oregon |
| Source Sets | University of Oregon |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Relation | University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Sociology, Ph.D., 1978; |
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