ABSTRACT
At the time that Emile Durkheim published On Suicide, in 1897, many scholars in Europe were already describing and examining the steady rise in suicides- a trend many thought was a symptom of a greater moral decline. The breakdown of traditional society and the introduction of industrialization through a mechanized manufacturing industry that threatened many people's jobs was the most common explanation for these trends. It was known that suicide rates varied with age, sex, and marital status. Economic recessions had been shown to be associated with sharp rises in suicides, while populations in a constant state of economic depression- meaning the poor- had lower rates than people in liberal occupations such as teaching and medicine. At the beginning of Durkheim's career, sociology was not a well-established academic discipline. In Durkheim's view, the key figures in the history of sociology had been philosophers rather than sociologists, examining society for no other reason than to support their rather grand ideas.
