Émile Durkheim, one of the great masters of sociology, has contributed to shaping this discipline as a science. By comparatively analyzing societies, he typifies them according to the mode of solidarity that configures them.

Suicide is a classic work of sociological research. It illustrates the magisterial nature of a method that advocated the need for empirical research on specific topics and statistical analysis; In addition, it raises altruistic suicide, selfish suicide and anomic suicide.

The excessive emphasis placed in The Suicide, a classic work of sociology, on the reality of society as something separate from the reality of individuals, earned Durkheim the accusation of extolling society as a mythical entity superior to the individual; his name has been associated with totalitarian ideologies. However, carefully reading his work makes these criticisms unjustified.