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Anomie
Anomie, in contemporary English, means a condition or malaise in individuals, characterized by an absence or diminution of standards or values. The word comes from Greeka-: "without", and nomos: "law". This term was used by the Greeks to define anything or anyone against the rulesor a condition where the present laws were not applied (illegitimacy, unlawfulness). The contemporary English understanding of the word anomie differs from how the term was originally defined and used by Greeks, often becoming a synonym of the word Αναρχία (see Anarchy). In Greek there is a difference between the word "nomos" (νόμος)(law), and the word "arché" (Αρχή)(starting rule, axiom, principle). For example, majority ruleis an "arché" and not a "nomos".
Anomie as individual disorderThe nineteenth centuryFrenchpioneer sociologistÉmile Durkheimused this word in his book outlining the causes of suicide, to describe a condition or malaise in individuals, characterized by an absence or diminution of standards or values, and an associated feeling of alienationand purposelessness. Anomie is remarkably common when the surrounding societyhas undergone significant changes in economic fortunes, whether for good or for worse, and more generally when there is a significant discrepancy between the ideological theories and values commonly professed and the practice of everyday life. In Durkheim's view, traditional religionsoften provided the basis for the shared values which the anomic individual lacks. Furthermore, he argues that the division of laborprevalent in modern economic life since the Industrial Revolutionleads individuals to pursue egoisticends rather than seeking the good of a larger community. Robert King Mertonalso adopted the idea of anomie in his work, defining it as the discrepancy between common social goals and the legitimate means to attain those goals. In other words, an individual suffering from anomie will strive to attain the common goals of a specific society yet cannot reach these goals legitimately due to various social limitations. As a result the individual will exhibit deviant behaviorin order to satisfy him or herself. Anomie as social disorderThe word, which can also be spelled anomy, has also been used to apply to societies or groups of people within a society, who suffer from chaosdue to lack of commonly recognized explicit or implicit rules of good conduct, or worse, to the reign of rules promoting isolation or even predation rather than cooperation. Friedrich Hayeknotably uses the word anomy with this meaning. Anomy as a social disorder is not to be confused with anarchy. The word 'anarchy' denotes lack of rulers, hierarchy, and command, whereas 'anomy' denotes lack of rules, structure and organization. Many opponents of anarchismclaim that anarchy necessarily leads to anomy; however, almost all anarchists will argue that hierarchical command actually creates chaos, rather than order (e.g., see the Law of Eristic Escalation). As an older variant, the Webster 1913dictionary reports use of the word anomy as meaning "disregard or violation of the law". Anomie in literature and filmIn Albert Camus's existentialistnovel The Stranger, the protagonist Mersaultstruggles to construct an individual system of values as he responds to the disappearance of the old. He exists largely in a state of anomie, as seen from the apathy evinced in the opening lines: "Aujourd'hui, maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas." ("Today Mother died. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know.") Camus expresses Mersault's conflict with the value structure provided by traditional religion in a dialogue near the book's close with a Catholicpriestwho exclaims, "Do you want my life to be meaningless?" Dostoevsky, whose work is often considered a philosophical precursor to existentialism, often expressed a similar concern in his novels. In The Brothers Karamazov, the character Dimitri Karamazov asks his atheistfriend Rakitin, "'...without God and immortal life? All things are lawful then, they can do what they like?'" Raskolnikov, the anti-hero of Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment, puts this philosophy into action when he kills an elderly pawnbroker and her sister, later rationalizing this act to himself with the words, "...it wasn't a human being I killed, it was a principle!" More recently, the protagonist of Martin Scorsese's film Taxi Driverand the protagonist of Fight Club, written originally by Chuck Palahniukand later made into a film, could be said to suffer from anomie. External links
es:Anomia fr:Anomie id:Anomie it:Anomia pl:Anomia pt:Anomia Categories: Criminology| Sociology| Social psychology| Social philosophy
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