A Study of the Relationship Between Individuals and the Society

Abstract

Since the foundation of sociology, how an individual and a society interact with each other has become a classical issue for sociologists and philosophers to research. As society has evolved from a primitive society to a capitalist society, individuals also have passed a progress of secularization and modernization. Different sociologists from different schools, including structure functionalism, symbolic interaction theory and social conflict theory, might have their own special ideas. This article is going to discuss the relationship between individuals and society with the theories of Marx and Durkheim. Case studies from modern society would also be applied to explain the theory. Through analysis, this research suggested that individuals and society have a reciprocal relationship. Moreover, as Marx concluded that human nature is the sum of all social relations, Durkheim argued that individual life is produced from collective life and is the product of society itself; the differences between Marx and Durkheims theories would be concluded, while the latter expanded the discussion from the perspective of occupational division and social integration, the core of Marxs is class and conflict.