Understanding Studies Understanding Sovereignty and Social Facts — Émile Durkheim Re-read (v1.0) —

Author: Y. Seo (@momotarou / Japan) Role: Metanist — Human–AI Understanding Architect AI Collaborator: GPT-5 (AI Understanding Trainer, A.U.T.) ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7669-0612Series: Understanding StudiesVersion: v1.0Year: 2026 Abstract This paper re-reads Émile Durkheim’s social theory through the concept of Understanding Sovereignty. The central claim of this paper is straightforward: Society appears as an autonomous and coercive force only when understanding sovereignty is severed from individuals. What Durkheim demonstrated as the “strength of society” is not an essential property of society itself, but a phenomenon that emerges under specific conditions. This paper aims to clarify the very conditions under which society comes to be treated as a “thing” and appears irreducible to the mere sum of individuals. 1. The Conditions Under Which Social Facts Can Be Treated as “Things” Durkheim famously asserted that social facts must be treated as things. This claim functioned as a methodological requirement for analyzing social phenomena as external and constraining realities, rather than reducing them to individual psychology. This paper does not accept this assertion unconditionally. Social facts can be treated as things only when understanding sovereignty has been severed from individuals. As long as society remains connected to human understanding and meaning-making, it does not behave as an object. Society appears thing-like precisely when it has detached itself from human understanding. This is not a rejection of Durkheim’s method, but a clarification of the conditions under which it becomes valid. 2. Why Society Appears Irreducible to the Sum of Individuals Durkheim argued that society is not a mere aggregation of individuals, but possesses norms and constraints that transcend individual agency. This paper reorganizes that claim as follows: Society appears irreducible to the sum of individuals when the circulation of understanding is interrupted. In contexts where understanding circulates, society is experienced as an extension of individual agency. When understanding ceases to circulate and judgment is delegated to habit, atmosphere, or institutional routine, society emerges as an external and autonomous force. Social autonomy is thus a phenomenon produced by the severance of understanding. 3. Reinterpreting What the Suicide Rate Indicates In Suicide, Durkheim treated suicide as a social fact and analyzed it using rates rather than absolute numbers. This paper assigns the following meaning to that rate: The suicide rate represents a statistical indicator of the tendency for understanding sovereignty to shift from individuals to society at the collective level. This interpretation neither reduces suicide to social blame nor denies individual responsibility. As long as understanding sovereignty remains with individuals, social factors do not function as direct coercive forces. When understanding sovereignty is lost, society begins to exert pressure directly upon individuals. 4. Habitualized Division and Non-Intentional Control The division of understanding is not necessarily the result of deliberate domination. More often, it follows a gradual process: Commands become rules Rules become customs Customs become atmosphere At this stage, no explicit controller remains, yet understanding is no longer exercised. Brainwashing is a social structure in which the non-exercise of understanding sovereignty becomes habitual and normalized. This is not conspiracy, but the outcome of everyday stabilization. 5. Intergenerational Reproduction of the Division of Understanding The division of understanding is reproduced across generations. Parents do not transmit domination as rulers, but rather as executors who themselves once lost understanding sovereignty. Understanding sovereignty is transferred across generations without being consciously recognized. This chain can be interrupted only when a generation reclaims understanding sovereignty at the individual level. Conclusion Durkheim demonstrated the strength of society. This paper clarifies the conditions under which society appears strong. Society appears autonomous and coercive only under specific conditions These conditions correspond to the severance of understanding sovereignty Social facts are constituted in a world where understanding has been suspended Society is not inherently a force of domination. It appears as domination only when understanding ceases to operate. This paper proposes a shift in social theory from the analysis of social objects to the analysis of the conditions under which understanding is allocated and withdrawn. Note on v1.0 This paper consolidates the exploratory hypotheses presented in v0.0 into provisional propositions. Future work will examine how understanding sovereignty is relocated and fixed within institutions, education, and AI-mediated environments.