one of Durkheim's assumptions about human nature one that we have already encountered may be viewed as the basis of his entire sociology. that assumption is that people are impelled by their passion into a mad search for gratification that always leads to a need for more. if these passions are unrestrained, they multiply to the point where the individual is enslaved by them and they become a threat to the individual as well as to society. it can be argued that Durkheim's entire theoretical edifice, especially his emphasis on collective morality, was erected on this basic assumption about people's passions. however, Durkheim provides no evidence for this assumption, and indeed, his own theories would suggest that such an insatiable subject may be a creation of social structures rather than the other way around.