In discussing the pathological forms that are born out of the division of labor, one sticks out of Emile Durkheim’s concepts. This form takes hold in the concept that as people specialize in his or her specific field that he or she becomes isolated from society as a whole. Durkheim links the division of labor to disintegration and also discusses the concepts of whether or not it is best to specialize or be what we discussed in class to be a “renaissance man.”
In thinking more on this, I think Durkheim raises a very well argued point in regards to how people will become overtly obsessed with one specific thing and isolate themselves from the rest of the field, but I also believe that this concept may just be a bit too extreme for me to fully accept. I stand behind what I said in class that without specialization those certain fields, such as medicine and history, would suffer from generalization and not be in the state it is today.
Ultimately, the division of labor suffers and thrives at the same time. Although people are specializing and finding isolation, they are also paving the way for the future and advancements in every field. We find ourselves “isolated” but also far more educated in every field. What is the lesser of these two evils?
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