What does Durkheim mean by "thing"?

Emile Durkheim's treatment of reality with the concept of "thing" is discussed. Though Durkheim's work connects thing with the scientific attitude, it is argued that an association of Durkheim with positivism, materialism, & empiricism is a distortion of his views. Durkheim has reality, but is not material; this is attributed to Durkheim's influence by French spiritualism. It is suggested that Durkheim's teacher Renouvier, who rigorously defined representation, fact, & phenomena, influenced him through his dialectic of reality in which social factors are a way of thinking & acting. 15 References. B. Persky