Durkheim poses a major question: given the separation of the economy from society and increasing secularization, how can we find a morality which is relevant to the modern state? Durkheim argues that the answer is to be found in the evolution of professional codes and civic values, which contribute to a regulation of the economy as guilds had regulated medieval economic life. Arguing that the state has a vital role to play in regulating moral life - a controversial position which drew considerable criticism- Durkheim also argued that the state had a duty to protect the rights of the individual. Included in this Routledge Classics edition is a new introduction by Bryan S.Turner.