Maniacal suicide. —This is due to hallucinations or delirious conceptions. The patient kills himself to escape from an imaginary danger or disgrace, or to obey a mysterious order from on high, etc.
Emile DurkheimRead
One cannot long remain so absorbed in contemplation of emptiness without being increasingly attracted to it. In vain one bestows on it the name of infinity; this does not change its nature. When one feels such pleasure in non-existence, one's inclination can be completely satisfied only by completely ceasing to exist.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the allure of emptiness and the dangers of desiring non-existence.
Emile Durkheim's quote delves into the complexities of contemplating emptiness and the seductive nature of nothingness. It suggests that dwelling on the idea of non-existence can lead to a deep attraction to it, where one may begin to perceive pleasure in the absence of being; ultimately, this yearning for non-existence can culminate in a desire for complete cessation of life. Durkheim warns that labeling this emptiness as 'infinity' does not alter its true essence, emphasizing the existential risks involved in such contemplation.
Themes
EmptinessExistenceContemplationNon-ExistenceAttraction
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a philosophical discussion about the nature of existence.
More from Emile Durkheim
All quotes →Man cannot become attached to higher aims and submit to a rule if he sees nothing above him to which he belongs. To free him from all social pressure is to abandon him to himself and demoralize him.
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A person is not merely a single subject distinguished from all the others. It is especially a being to which is attributed a relative autonomy in relation to the environment with which it is most immediately in contact.
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The roles of art, morality, religion, political faith, science itself are not to repair organic exhaustion nor to provide sound functioning of the organs. All this supraphysical life is built and expanded not because of the demands of the cosmic environment but because of the demands of the social environment.
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A society whose members are united by the fact that they think in the same way in regard to the sacred world and its relations with the profane world, and by the fact that they translate these common ideas into common practices, is what is called a Church. In all history, we do not find a single religion without a Church.
Emile DurkheimRead
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