The work argues that social phenomena must be treated as things: they exist independently of individual consciousness, exert external coercive force, and can be studied objectively. It sets out methodological rules for identifying, measuring, and explaining social facts, distinguishes these collective realities from individual psychology, and advocates empirical tools including observation, comparison, and statistics. Illustrative discussions of division of labor, suicide, and religious life show how collective structures, norms, and symbols generate regular patterns of behavior requiring scientific analysis.