INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF SOCIOLOGY
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO. ILLINOIS
THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY
NEW YORK
THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY FRES3
LONDOS
TEE MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA
TOKIO, OSAKA, KTOTO, PTJKUOKA, SEND A I
THE MISSION BOOK COMPANY
3HAN0HAI
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF SOCIOLOGY
By
Robert E. Park and Ernest W. Burgess
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
COPYKIGHT ig2i By
The University of Chicago
All Rights Reserved
Published September 1921
Composed and Printed By
The Uaiveisity oE ChicaED Press
ChicaEO. Illinois. U.S.A.
PREFACE
The materials upon which this book is based have been collected from a wide range of sources and represent the observation and reflection of men who have seen life from very different points of view. This was necessary in order to bring into the perspective of a single volume the whole wide range of social organization and human Ufe which is the subject-matter of a science of society.
At the same time an effort has been made to bring this material within the limits of a very definite series of sociological conceptions which suggest, at any rate, where they do not clearly exhibit, the fundamental relations of the parts to one another and to the concepts and contents of the volume as a whole.
The Introduction to the Science of Sociology is not conceived as a mere collection of materials, however, but as a systematic treatise. On the other hand, the excerpts which make up the body of the book are not to be regarded as mere illustrations. In the context in which they appear, and with the headings which indicate their place in the volume, they should enable the student to formulate for himself the principles involved. An experience of some years, during which this book has been in preparation, has demonstrated the value to the teacher of a body of materials that are interesting in themselves and that appeal to the experience of the student. If students are invited to take an active part in the task of interpretation of the text, if they are encouraged to use the references in order to extend their knowledge of the subject-matter and to check and supplement classroom discussiori\by their personal observation, their whole attitude becomes actlveVather than passive. Students gain in this way a sense of dealing ao^ first hand with a subject-matter that is alive and with a science that is in the makings Under these condi- tions sociology becdlnes a common enterprise in which all members of the class participate; to which, by their observation and investiga- tion, they can and should make contributions.
The first thing that students in sociology need to learn is to observe and record their own observations; to read, and then to select and record the materials which are the fruits of their readings;
Vi PREFACE
to organize and use, in short, their own experience. The whole organization of this volume may be taken as an illustration of a method, at once tentative and experimental, for the collection, classification, and interpretation of materials, and should be used by students from the very outset in all their reading and study.
Social questions have been endlessly discussed, and it is important that they should be. What the student needs to . leam, however, is how to get facts rather than formulate opinions. The most impor- tant facts that sociologists have to deal with are opinions (attitudes and sentiments), but until students learn to deal with opinions as the biologists deal with organisms, that is, to dissect them — reduce them to their component elements, describe them, and define the situation (environment) to which they are a response — we must not expect very great progress in sociological science.
It will be noticed that every single chapter, except the first, falls naturally into four parts; (i) the introduction, (2) the materials, (3) investigations and problems, and (4) bibliography. The first two parts of each chapter are intended to raise questions rather than to answer them. The last two, on the other hand, should outUne or suggest problems for further study. The bibliographies have been selected mainly to exliibit the recognized points of view with regard to the questions raised, and to suggest the practical problems that grow out of, and are related to, the subject of the chapter as a whole.
The bibliographies, which accompany the chapters, it needs to be said, are intended to be representative rather than authoritative or complete. An attempt has been made to bring together Hterature that would exhibit the range, the divergence, the distinctive char- acter of the writings and points of view upon a single topic. The resulfs are naturally subject to criticism and revision.
A word should be said in regard to chapter i. It seemed necessary and important, in view of the general vagueness and uncertainty in regard to the place of sociology among the sciences and its relation to the other social sciences, particularly to history, to state somewhere, clearly and definitely, what, from the point of view of this volume, sociology is. This resulted finally in the imposition of a rather formidable essay upon what is in other respects, we trust, a relatively concrete and intelligible book. Under these circumstances we sug- gest that, unless the reader is specially interested in the matter,
PREFACE Vii
he begin with the chapter on "Human Nature," and read the first chapter last.
The editors desire to express their indebtedness to Dr. W. I. Thomas for the point of view and the scheme of organization of materials which have been largely adopted in this book.' They are a!so under obligations to their colleag'ues, Professor Albion W. Small, Professor Ellsworth Paris, and Professor Leon C. Marshall, for constant stimulus, encouragement, and assistance. They wish to acknowledge the co-operation and the courtesy of their publishers, all the more appreciated because of the difficult technical task involved in the preparation of this volume. In preparing copy for publi- cation and in reading proof, invaluable service was rendered by Miss Roberta Burgess.
Finally the editors are bound to express their indebtedness to the writers and publishers who have granted their permission to use the materials from which this volume has been put together. With- out the use of these materials it would not have been possible to exhibit the many and varied types of observation and reflection which have contributed to present-day knowledge of social life. In order to give this volume a systematic character it has been necessary to tear these excerpts from their contexts and to put them, sometimes, into strange categories. In doing this it will no doubt have happened that some false impressions have been created. This was perhaps inevitable and to be expected. On the other hand these brief excerpts offered here will serve, it is hoped, as an introduction to the works from which they have been taken, and, together with the bibliog- raphies which accompany them, will serve further to direct and stimulate the reading and research of students. The co-operation of the following publishers, organizations and journals, in giving, by special 'arrangement, permission to use selections from copyright material, was therefore distinctly appreciated by the editors:
D.Appleton&Co.; G.Bell&Sons; J.F.Bergmann; Columbia Uni- versity Press ; George H. Doran Co.; Duncker undHumblot; Duffield & Co.; Encyclopedia Americana Corporation; M. GiardetCie; Ginn &Co.; Harcourt, Brace & Co; PaulB.Hoeber; Houghton MifHin Co.;
^ See Source Book for Social Origins. Ethnological materials, psychological standpoint, classified and annotated bibliographies for the interpretation of savage society (Chicago, 1909).
viii PREFACE
Henry Holt & Co.; B.W.Huebsch; P. S. King & Son; T.W.Laurie, Ltd.; Longmans, Green & Co.; John W. Luce & Co.; Tlie Macmillan Co.; A. C. McClurg & Co.; Methuen &_ Co.; John Murray; Martinus Nijhoff; Open Court Publishing Co.; Oxford University Press; G. P. Putnam's Sons; Riitten undLoening; Charles Scribner's Sons; Frederick A. Stokes & Co.; W. Thacker & Co.; University of Chicago Press; University Tutorial Press, Ltd.; Wagnerische Univ. Buchhandlung; Walter Scott Publishing Co.; Williams & Norgate; Yale University Press; American Association for International Con- ciliation; American Economic Association; American Sociological Society; Carnegie Institution of Washington; American Jonrvzl of Psychology; American Journal of Sociology; Cornhill Magazine; Inter- national Journal of Ethics; Journal of Abnormal Psychology; Journal of Delinquency; Nature; Pedagogical Seminary; Popular Science Monthly; Religious Education; Scientific Monthly; Sociological Review; World's Work; Yale Review.
Chicago June i8, 1921
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I. Sociology and the Social Sciences
PAGE
I. Sociology and "Scientific" History i
II. Historical and Sociological Facts 6
III. Human Nature and Law 12
IV. History, Natural History, and Sociology 16
V. The Social Organism: Humanity or Leviathan? .... 24
VI. Social Control and Schools of Thought 27
VII. Social Control and the Collective Mind 36..
VIII. Sociology and Social Research 43
Representative Works in Systematic Sociology and Methods of
Sociological Research 57
Topics for Written Themes 60
Questions jar Discussion 60
Chapter II. Human Nature I. Introduction
r. Human Interest in Human Nature
2. Definition of Human Nature
3. Classification of the Materials
II. Materials
A. The Original Nature of Man
1. Original Nature Defined. Edward L. Thorndike
2. Inventory of Original Tendencies. Edward L. Thorn- dike
3. Man Not Born Human. Robert E. Park
4. The Natural Man. Milicent W. Shinn
5. Sex Differences. Albert Moll .
6. Racial Differences. C. S. Myers .
7. Individual Differences. Edward L. Thorndike
B. Human Nature and Social Life
1. Human Nature and Its Remaking. W. E. Hocking
2. Human Nature, Folkways, and the Mores. William G. Stunner
64
65
73
75 76
82
85 89 92
95 97
X TABLE OF CONTENTS
3. Habit and Custom, the Individual and the General Will- Ferdinand Tonnies too
4. The Law, Consciencej and the General Will. Vis- couitt Haldane 102
C. Personality and the Social Self
1. The Organism as Personality. Th. Rihot. . . . 108
2. PersonaHty as a Complex. Morton Prince ... iro
3. The Self as the Individual's Conception of His Role. Alffed Bine!- 113
4. The Natural Person versus the Social and Con- ventional Self. L. G. Winston 117
5. The Divided Self and Moral Consciousness. William James ' 119
6. Personality of Individuals and of Peoples. W. v. Bechterew 123
D. Biological and Social Heredity
1. Nature and Nurture. J. Arthur Thomson . . . 126
2. Inheritance of Original Nature. C. B. Davenport . 128
3. Inheritance of Acquired Nature: Tradition. Albert
G. Keller 134
4. Temperament, Tradition, and Nationality. Robert
E. Park 135
III. Investigations and Problems
1. Conceptions of Human Nature Implicit in Religious
and PoHtical Doctrines 139
2. Literature and the Science of Human Nature . . 141
3. Research in the Field of Original Nature .... 143
4. The Investigation of Human Personality . . . 143 S- The Measurement of Individual Differences . . . 145
Selected Bibliography 147
Topics for Written Themes 154
Questions for Discussion 155
CH.4PTER III. Society and the Group
I. Introduction
1. Society, the Community, and the Group .... 159
2. Classification of the Materials 162
TABLE OF CONTENTS, xi
PAGE
[. Materials
A. Society and Symbiosis
1. Definition of Society. Alfred. Espinas .... 165
2. Symbiosis (literally "living together"). William M. Wheels 167
3. The Taming and the Domestication of Animals.
P. Chalmers Mitchell 17?
B. Plant Communities and Animal Societies
1. Plant Communities. Eugenius Warming. ... . 173
2. Ant Society. William E. Wheeler 180
C. Human Society
1. Social Life. John Dewey 182
2. Behavior and Conduct. Robert E. Park .... 185
3. Instinct and Character. L. T. Hobhouse. ... igo
4. Collective Representation and Intellectual Life. Emile Durkheim 193
D. The Social Group
1. Definition of the Group. Albion W. Small . . . 196
2. The Unity of the Social Group. Robert E. Park . 198
3. Types of Social Groups. S. Sigkele .... - 200
4. Esprit de Corps, Morale, and Collective Representa- tions of Social Groups. William E. Hocking . . 205
III. Investigations and Problems
1. The Scientific Study of Societies 210
2. Surveys of Communities 211
3. The Group as a Unit of Investigation 212
4. The Study of the Family 213
Selected Bibliography 217
Topics for Written Themes 223
Questions for. Discussion 224
Chapter IV. Isolation I. Introduction
1. Geological and Biological Conceptions of Isolation . 226
2. Isolation and Segregation 228
3. Classification of the Materials 230
II. Materials
A. Isolation and Personal Individuality
1. Society and Solitude. Francis Bacon 233
2. Society in Solitude. Jean Jacques Rousseau . . . 234
xii ' TABLE OF CONTENrS
PA(
3. Prayer as a Form of Isolation. George Albert Coe . 23
4. Isolation, Originality, and Erudition. T. Sharper * Knowhon 237
B. Isolation and Retardation
1. Feral Men. Maurice H. Small . . . .' . 239
2. From Solitude to Society. Helen Keller .... 243
3. Mental Effects of Solitude. W. H. Hudson . . . 245
4. Isolation and the Rural Mind. C. /. Galpin . . 247
5. The Subtler Effects of Isolation. W . I. Thomas . 249
C. Isolation and Segregation
1. Segregation as a Process. Robert E. Park . . . 252
2. Isolation as a Result of Segregation. L. W. Crafts
and E. A. Doll 254
D. Isolation and National Individuality
1. Historical Races as Products of Isolation. A''. S. Shaler 257
2. Geographical Isolation and Maritime Contact. George Grote 260
3. Isolation as an Explanation of National Differences. William Z. Ripley 264
4. Natural versus Vicinal Location in National Develop- ment. Ellen C. Semple 268
III. Investigations and Problems
1. Isolation in Anthropogeography and Biology . . 269
2. Isolation and Social Groups 270
3. Isolation and Personality 271
Bibliography: Materials for the Sttidy of Isolation 273
Topics for Written Themes 277
Questions for Discussion 278
Chapter V. Social Contacts I. Introduction
1. Preliminary Notions of Social Contact .... 280
2. The Sociological Concept of Contact 281
3. Classification of the Materials 282
II. Materials
A. Physical Contact and Social Contact
1. The Frontiers of Social Contact. Albion W. Small . 2S8
2. The Land and the People. Ellen C. Semple . . . 289
3. Touch and Social Contact. Ernest Crawley ... 291
â– TABLE 'v)F CONTENTS xni
PAGE
B. Social Contact in Relation to Solidarity and to Mobility
1. The In-Group and the Out-Group. W. G. Sumner . 293
2. Sympathetic Contacts versus Categoric Contacts.
N. S. Shaler 294
3. Historical Continuity and Civilization. Friedrich Ratzel 298
4. Mobility and the Movement of Peoples. Ellen C. Semple 301
C. Primary and Secondary Contacts
1. Village Life in America (from the Diary of a Young Girl). Caroline C. Richards 305
2. Secondary Contacts and City Life. Robert E. Park . 311
3. Publicity as a Form of Secondary Contact. Robert E.Park 315
4. From Sentimental to Rational Attitudes. Werner Somhart 317
5. The Sociological Significance of the "Stranger." Georg Simmel 322
III. Investigations and Problems
1. Physical Contacts 327
2. Touch and the Primary Contacts of Intimacy . . 329 -3. Primary Contacts of Acquaintanceship .... 330
4. Secondary Contacts 331
Bibliography: Materials for the Study of Social Contacts ... 332
Topics for Written Themes 336
Questions for Discussion 336
Chapter VI. Social Interaction
I. Introduction
1. The Concept of Interaction 339
2. Classification of the Materials â– . 341
11. Materials
A. Society as Interaction
1. The Mechanistic Interpretation of Society. Ludwig Gumplowicz 346
2. Social Interaction as the Definition of the Group in Time and Space. Georg Simmel 348
f
t 'i.
xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
B. The Natural Forms of Communication
1. Sociology of the Senses: Visual Interaction. Georg Simmel 356
2. The Expression of the Emotions. Charles Darwin . 361
3. Blushing. Charles Darwin 365
4. Laughing. L. Dugas 370
C. Language and the Communication of Ideas
r. Intercommunication in the Lower Animals.
C Lloyd Morgan 3 7.5
2. The Concept as the Medium of Human Communica- tion. F. Max Midler . . . 379
3. Writing as a Form of Communication. Charles S. Judd - . -381
4. The Extension of Communication by Human Inven- tion. Carl Bilcher 385
D. Imitation
1. Definition of Imitation. Charles H. Judd . . . 390
2. Attention, Interest, and Imitation. G. F. Stout . 391
3. The Three Levels of Sympathy. Tk. Ribot . . . 394
4. Rational Sympathy. Adam Smith 397
5. Art, Imitation, and Appreciation. Yrjo Birn . . 401
E. Suggestion
1. A Sociological Definition of Suggestion. W. v. Bechterew 408
2. The Subtler Forms of Suggestion. Albert Moll. . 412
3. Social Suggestion and Mass or "Corporate" Action.
W. V. Bechterew 415
III. Investigations and Problems
1. The Process of Interaction 420
2. Communication 421
3. Imitation 423
4. Suggestion 424
Sdecied Bibliography 425
Topics for Written Themes . . 43 ^
Questions for Discussion 431
Chapter VII. Social Forces I. Introduction
1. Sources of the Notion of Social lorces . . . . 435
2. History of the Concept of Social Forces .... 436
3. Classification of the Material 437
TABLE OF CONTENTS Xv,
PAGE
II. Materials
A. Trends, Tendencies, and Public Opinion
1. Social Forces in American- History. A. M. Simons . 443
2. Social Tendencies as Social Forces. Richard T. Ely 444
3. Public Opinion and Legislation in England. A, V. Dicey 445
B. Interests, Sentiments, and Attitudes
1. Social Forces and Interaction. Albion W. 'Small . 451
2. Interests. Albion W. Small . .' 454
3. Social Pressures. Arthur F. Bentley 458
4. Idea-Forces. Alfred Fouillee 461
5. Sentiments. William McDougall 464
6. Social Attitudes.^ Robert E. Park 467
C. The Four Wishes: A Classification of Social Forces
1. The Wish, the Social Atom. Edwin B. Holt. ' . . 478
2. The Freudian Wish. John B.Watson .... 482
3. The Person and His Wishes. W. I. Thomas. . . 488
III. Investigations and Problems
1. Popular Notions of Social Forces ..:... 491
2. Social Forces and History 493
3. Interests, Sentiments, and Attitudes as Social Forces 494
4. Wishes and Social Forces 497
Selected Bibliography 498
Topics for Written Themes 501
Questions for Discussion 502
Chapter VIII. Competition I. Introduction
I. Popular Conceptions of Competition 505
'2. Competition a Process of Interaction 50;
3. Classification of the Materials â– 51]
II. Materials
A. The Struggle for Existence
1. Different Forms of the Struggle for Existence.
J. Arthur Thomson 51;
2. Competition and Natural Selection. Charles Darwin 51.
3. Competition, Specialization, and Organization. Charles Darwin 5I'
4. Man: An Adaptive Mechanism. George W. CrUe . 52
xvi TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
B. Competition and Segregation
1. Plant Migration, Compe'Ution, and Segregation.
F. E. Clements 526
2. Migration and Segregation. Carl Bilcher ... 529
3. Demographic Segregation and Social Selection. William Z. Ripley 534
4. Inter-racial Competition and Race Suicide. Francis A.Walker 539
C. Economic Competition
1. Changing Forms of Economic Competition. John
B. Clark 544
2. Competition and the Natural Harmony of Individual Interests. Adam Smith 55°
3. Competition and Freedom. Frederic Bastiat . . 551
4. Money and Freedom. Georg Simmd 552
III. Investigations and Problenis
1. Biological Competition 553
2. Economic Competition 554
3. Competition and Human Ecology 558
4. Competition and the "Inner Enemies": the Defec- tives, the Dependents, and the Delinquents ... 559
Selected Bibliography . 562
Topics for Written Themes 562
Questions for Discussion 5^3
Chapter IX. Conflict I. Introduction
1. The Concept of Conflict 574
2. Classification of the Materials 576
II. Materials
' A. Conflict as Conscious Competition
1. The Natural History of Conflict. W. I. Thomas . 579
2. Conflict as a Type of Social Interaction. Georg Simmel ' 5^2
3. Types of Conflict Situations. Georg Simmel . . . 586
B. War, Instincts, and Ideals
1. War and Human Nature. William A. White . . 594
2. War as a Form of Relaxation. G. T. W. Patrick . 598
3. The Fighting Animal and the Great Society. Henry Rutgers Marshall 600
TABLE OF COI^TENTS xvn
PAGE
C. Rivalry, Cultural Conflicts, and Social Organization
1. Animal Rivalry. WUHam H. Hudson . . . '. 604
2. The Rivalry of Social Groups. George E. Vincent . 605
3. Cultural Conflicts and the Organization of Sects. Franklin E. Giddings 610
D. Racial Conflicts
1. Social Contacts and Race Conflict. Robert E. Park . 616
2. Conflict and Race Consciousness. Robert E. Park . 623
3. Conflict and Accommodation. Alfred H. Stone . . 631
III. Investigations and Problems
1. The Psychology and Sociology of Conflict, Conscious Competition, and Rivalry 638
2. Types of Conflict 639
3. The Literature of War 641
4. Race Conflict 642
5. Conflict Groups 643
Selected Bibliography 645
Topics for Written Themes 660
. Questions for Discussion 661
Chapter X. Accommodation I. Introduction
1. Adaptation and Accommodation 663
2. Classification of the Materials 666
II. Materials
A. Forms of Accommodation
1. Acclimatization. Daniel G. Brinion 671
2. Slavery Defined. H.J.Nieboer 674
3. Excerpts from the Journal of a West India Slave Owner. Matthew G. Lewis 677
4. The Origin of Caste in India. John C. Nesfield . 681
5. Caste and the Sentiments of Caste Reflected in Popular Speech. Herbert Risl0 684
B. Subordination and Superordination
1. The Psychology of Subordination and Superordina-
â– tion. Hugo Milnsterberg 688
2. Sodal Attitudes in Subordination: Memories of an
Old Servant. An 01^ Servant 692
\
sviii TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGF
3- The Reciprocal Character of Subordination and
Superordination. Georg Simmel 695
4. Three Types of Subordination and Superordination. Georg Simmel 697
C. Conflict and Acconriinodation
1. War and Peace as Types of Conflict and Accommoda- tion. Georg Simmel 703
2. Compromise and Accommodation. Georg Simmel . 706
D. Competition, Status, and Social Solidarity
1. Personal Competition, Social Selection, and Status. Charles H. Cooley 70S
2. Personal Competition and the Evolution of Indi- vidual Types. Robert E, Park 712
3. Division of Labor and Social Solidarity. Emile Durkheim 714
III. Investigations and Problems
1. Forms of Accommodation 71S
2. Subordination and Superordination 721
3. Accommodation Groups 721
4. Social Organization 723
Selected Bibliography 725
Topics for Written Themes 732
Questions for Discussion 732
Chapter XI. Assimilation I. Introduction
1. Popular Conceptions of Assimilation 734
2. The Sociology of Assimilation 735
3. Classification of the Materials . 737
II, Materials
A. Biological Aspects of Assimilation
1. Assimilation and Amalgamation. Sarah E. Simons 740
2. The Instinctive Basis of Assimilation. W. Trotter . 742
B. The Conflict and Fusion of Cultures
1. The Analysis of Blended Cultures. W, H. R. Rivers 746
2. The Extension of Roman Culture -in Gaul. John
H. Cornyn 751
3. The Competition of the Cultural Languages. E. H. Babbitt 754
4. The Assimilation of Races. Robert E. Park ... 756
TABLE OF CONTENTS XiX
PAGE
C. Americanization as a Problem in Assimilation
1. Americanization as Assimilation 762
2. Language as a Means and a Product of Participation 763
3. Assimilation and the Mediation of Individual Differences 766
III. Investigations and Problems
1. Assimilation and Amalgamation 769
2. The Conflict and Fusion of Cultures 771
3. Immigration and Americanization 772
Selected Bibliography 775
Topics for Written Themes 783
Questions for Discussion 783
Chaptee XII. Social Control I. Introduction
1. Social Control Defined 785
2. Classification of the Materials 787
II. Materials
A. Elementary Forms of Social Control
1. Control in the Crowd and the Public. Lieut. J. S. Smith 800
2. Ceremonial Control. Herbert Spencer .... 805
3. Prestige. Lewis Leopold 807
4. Prestige and Status in South East Africa. Maurice
S. Evans 811
5. Taboo. W. Robertson Smith 812
B. Public Opinion
' I. The Myth. Georges Sorel 816
2. The Growth of a Legend. Fernand van Langenhove 819
3. Ritual, Myth, and Dogma. W. Robertson Smith . 822
4. The Nature of Public Opinion. A. Lawrence Lowell 826
5. Public Opinion and the Mores. Robert E. Park . . 829
6. News and Social Control. Walter Lippmann . . 834
7. The Psychology of Propaganda. Raymond Dodge . 837
C. Institutions
1. Institutions and the Mores. W.G.Sumner . . . 841
2. Common Law and Statute Law. Frederic J . Stimson 843
3. Religion and Social Control. Charles A. EMwood . 846
XX TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
III. Investigations and Problems
I. Social Control and Human Nature 84S
3. Elementary Forms of Social Control 849
3. Public Opinion and Social Control 850
4. Legal Institutions and Law 851
Selected Bibliography 854
Topics for Written Themes 862
Questions for Discussion 862
Chapter XIII. Collective Behavioe I. Introduction
1. Collective Beliavior Defined 865
2. Social Unrest and Collective Behavior .... 866
3. The Crowd and the Public 867
4. Crowds and Sects 870
5. Sects and Institutions 872
6. Classification of the Materials 874
II. Materials
A. Social Contagion
1. An Incident in a Lancashire Cotton Mill . . . 878
2. The Dancing Mania of the Middle Ages. /. F. C. Hecker 879
B. The Crowd
1. The "Animal" Crowd 881
a) The Flock. Mary Austin 881
b) The Herd. W. H. Hudson 883
c) The Pack. Ernest Thompson Seton .... 886
2. The Psychological Crowd. Gustave Le Bon . . . 887 - 3. The Crowd Defined. Robert E. Park 893
C. Types of Mass Movements
1. Crowd Excitements and Mass Movements: The Klondike Rush. T. C. Down 895
2. Mass Movements and the Mores: The Woman's Crusade. Annie Wittenmyer 898
3. Mass Movements and Revolution
a) The French Revolution. Gustave Le Bon . . . 905
b) Bolshevism. John Spargo 909
4. Mass Movements and Institutions: Methodism. William E. H. Lecky 915
TABLE OF CCflSTTENTS ^ xxi
PAGE
III. Investigations and Problems
1. Social Unrest 924
2. Psychic Epidemics 926
3. Mass Movements 927
4. Revivals, Religious and Linguistic 929
5. Fashion, Reform, and Revolution 933
Selected Bibliography 934
Topics for Written Themes '951
Questions for Discussion 951
Chapter XIV. Peogeess I. Introduction
1. Popular Conceptions of Progress . • 953
2. The Problem of Progress ........ 956
3. History of the Concept of Progress ..... 958
4. Classification of the Materials 962
II. Materials
A. The Concept of Progress
1. The Earliest Conception of Progress. F. S. Marvin 965
2. Progress and Organization. Herbert Spencer . . . 966
3. The Stages of Progress. Augmie Comte .... 968
4. Progress and the Historical Process. Leonard T. Hobkouse 969
B. Progress and Science
1. Progress and Happiness. Lester F.Ward ... ^73
2. Progress and Prevision. John Dewey 975
3. Progress and the Limits of Scientific Prevision. Arthur J. Balfour 977
4. Eugenics as a Science of Progress. Francis Gallon . 979
C. Progress and Human Nature
I. The Nature of Man. George Santay ana .... 983
2.' Progress and the Mores. W. G. Sumner . . . 983
3. War and Progress. James Bryce 984
4. Progress and the Cosmic Urge
o) The £lan Vitale. Henri Bergson 989
b) The Dunkler Drangt Arthur Schopenhauer . . 994
HI. Investigations and Problems
1. Progress and "Social Research 1000
2. Indices of Progress 1002
Selected Bibliography 1004
Topics for Written Themes loio
Questions for Discussion loio
CHAPTER I SOCIOLOGY AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ^
I. SOCIOLOGY AND " SCIENTIFIC" HISTORY
Sociology first gained recognition as an independent science with the pubHcation, between 1830 and 1842, of Auguste Comte's Cours de philosophie positive. Comte did not, to be sure, create sociology. He did give it a name, a program, and a place among the sciences.
Comte's program for the new science proposed an extension to politics and to history of the positive methods of the natural sciences. Its practical aim was to establish government on the secure foundation of an exact science and give to the predictions of history something of the precision of mathematical formulae.
We have to contemplate social phenomena as susceptible of prevision, like aU other classes, within the limits of exactness compatible with their higher complexity. Comprehending the three characteristics of poHtica] science which we have been examining, prevision of social phenomena sup- poses,' first, that we have abandoned the region of metaphysical ideahties, to assume the ground of observed reahties by a systematic subordination of imagination to observation; secondly, that pohtical conceptions have ceased to be absolute, and have become relative to the variable state of civili- zation, so that theories, following the natural course of facts, may admit of our foreseeing them; and, thirdly, that permanent political action is limited by determinate laws, since, if social events were always exposed to disturb- ance by the accidental intervention of the legislator, human or divine, no scientific prevision oE them would be possible. Thus, we may concentrate the conditions' of the spirit of positive social philosophy on this one great attribute of scientific prevision.^
Comte proposed, in short, to make government a technical science and politics a profession. He looked forward to a time when legislation, based on a scientific study of human nature, would
' From Robert E. Park, "Sociology and the Social Sciences," American /o;(?-- nal of Sociology, 'KKNl{ig2o~2i), 4.oi-2,^; XXVII (1921-22), 1-21; 169-83.
' Harriet Martineau, The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte, freely translated and condensed (London, 1S93), II, 61.
2 INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF SOCIOLOGY
assume the character of natural law. The earlier and more elt mentary sciences, particularly physics and chemistry, had given man control over external nature; the last science, sociology, was to give man control over himself.
Men were long in learning that Man's power of modifying phenomena can result only from his knowledge of their natural laws; and in the infancy of each science, they believed themselves able to exert an unbounded influ- ence over the phenomena of that science Social phenomena are, of
course, from their extreme complexity, the last to be freed from this preten- sion: but it is therefore only the more necessary to remember that the pretension existed with regard to all the rest, in their earliest stage, and to anticipate therefore that social science will, in its turn, be emancipated from
the delusion It [the existing social science] represents the social
action of Man to be indefinite and arbitrary, as was once thought in regard to biological, chemical, physical, and even astronomical phenomena, in the
earher stages of their respective sciences The human race finds
itself delivered over, without logical protection, to the ill-regulated experi- mentation of the various political schools, each one of which strives to set up, for all future time, its own immutable type of government. We have seen what are the chaotic results of such a strife; and we shall find that there is no chance of order and agreement but in subjecting social phe- nomena, like all others, to invariable natural laws, which shall, as a whole, prescribe for each period, with entire certainty, the limits and character of political action: in other words, introducing into the study of social phe- nomena the same positive spirit which has regenerated every other branch of human speculation.^
In the present anarchy of political opinion and parties, changes in the existing social order inevitably assume, he urged, the char- acter, at the best, of a mere groping empiricism; at the worst, of a social convulsion like that of the French Revolution. Under the directipn of a positive, in place of a speculative or, as Comte would have said, metaphysical science of society, progress must assume the character of an orderly march.
It was to be expected, with the extension of exact methods of investigation to other fields of knowledge, that the study of man and of society would become, or seek to become, scientific in the sense in which that word is used in the natural sciences. It is interesting, in this connection, that Comte's first name for sociology
' Harriet Martineau, op. cii., II, 59-61,
SOCIOLOGY AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES 3
was social physics. It was not until he had reached the fourth volume of his Positive Philosophy that the word sociological is used for the first time.
Comte, if he was foremost, was not first in the search for a positive science of society, which would give man that control over men that he had over external nature. Montesquieu, In his The Spirit of Laws, first published in 1747, had distinguished in the organiza- tion of society, between form, " the particular structure," and the forces, "the human passions which set it in motion." In his preface to this first epoch-making essay in what Freeman calls "com- parative politics," Montesquieu suggests that the uniformities, which he discovered beneath the wide variety of positive law, were contributions not merely to a science of law, but to a science of mankind.
I have first of all considered mankind; and the result of my thoughts has been, that amidst such an infinite diversity of laws and manners, they are not solely conducted by the caprice of fancy.'
Hume, likewise, put politics among the natural sciences.^ Con- dorcet wanted to make history positive. ^ But there were, in the period between 1815 and 1840 in France, conditions which made the need of a new science of politics peculiarly urgent. The Revo- lution had failed and the political philosophy, which had directed and justified it, was bankrupt. France, between 1789 and 1815, had adopted, tried, and rejected no less than ten different con- stitutions. But during this period, as Saint-Simon noted, society, and the human beings who compose society, had not changed. It was evident that government was not, in any such sense as the philosophers had assumed, a mere artefact and legislative construction. Civilization, ag Saint-Simon conceived it, was a part of nature. Social change was part of the whole cosmic process. He proposed,, therefore, to make politics a science as positive as physics. The subject-matter of political science, as he conceived it, was not so
' Montesquieu, Baron M. de Secondat, The Spirit of Laius, translated by Thomas Nugent (Cincinnati, 1873), I, xxxi.
^ David Hume, Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Part II, sec. 7.
J Condorcet, Esqaisse d'un tableau historiqne des progres de I'csprit humain (1795), 292. See Paul Burth, Die FMlosophie der Gesckickte als Sociologie (Leip- zig, 1897), Part I, pp. 21-23.
4 INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF SOCIOLOGY
much political forms as social conditions. History had been liter- ature. It was destined to become a science.'
Comte called himself Saint-Simon's pupil. It is perhaps more correct to say Saint-Simon formulated the problem for which Comtc, in his Positive Philosophy, sought a solution. It was Comte's notion that with the arrival of sociology the distinction which had so long existed, and still exists, between philosophy, in which men define their wishes, and natural science, in which they describe the existing order of nature, would disappear. In that case ideals would be defined in terms of reality, and the tragic difference between what men want and what is possible would be effaced. Comte's error was to mistake a theory of progress for progress itself. It is certainly true that as men learn what is, they will adjust their ideals to what is possible. But knowledge grows slowly.
Man's knowledge of mankind has increased greatly since 1842. Sociology, "the positive science of humanity," has moved steadily forward in the direction that Comte's program indicated, but it has not yet replaced history. Historians are still looking for methods of investigation which will make history "scientific."
No one who has watched the course of history during the last generation can have felt doubt of its tendency. Those of us who read Buckle's first volume when it appeared in 1857, and almost immediately afterwards, in 1859, read the Origin of Species and felt the violent impulse which Darwin gave to the study of natural laws, never doubted that historians would follow until they had exhausted every possible hypothesis to create a science of history. Year after year passed, and little progress has been made. Perhaps the mass of students are more skeptical now than they were thirty years ago of the possibility that such a science can be created. Yet almost every suc- cessful historian has been busy with it, adding here a new analysis, a new generalization there ; a clear and definite connection where before the rupture of idea was absolute; and, above all, extending the field of study until it shall include all races, all countries, and all times. Like other branches of science, history is now encumbered and hampered by its own mass, but its tendency is always the same, and cannot be other than what it is. That the effort to make history a science may fall is possible, and perhaps prob- able; but that it should cease, unless for reasons that would cause aU science to cease, is not within the range of experience. Historians will not, and
^ (Euvres de Samt-Simon et d'Enfaniifi (Paris, 1S65-78), XVII, 228. Paul Barth, op. cit., Part I, p. 23.
SOCIOLOGY AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES 5
even if they would they can not, abandon the attempt. Science itself would admit its own failure if it admitted that man, the most important of all its subjects, couid not be brought within its range/
Since Corate gave the new science of humanity a name and a point of view, the area of historical investigation has vastly widened and a number of new social sciences have come into existence- ethnology, archaeology, folklore, the comparative studies of cul- tural materials, i.e., language, mythology, rehgion, and law, and in connection with and closely related with these, folk-psychology, social psychology, and the psychology of crowds, which latter is, perhaps, the forerunner of a wider and more elaborate political psychology. The historians have been very much concerned with these new bodies of materials and with the new points of view which they have introduced into the study of man and of society. Under the influences of these sciences, history itself, as James Harvey Robinson has pointed out, has had a history. But with the inno- vations which the new history has introduced or attempted to intro- duce, it does not appear that there have been any fundamental changes in method or ideology in the science itself.
Fifty years have elapsed since Buckle's book appeared, and I know of no historian who would venture to maintain that we had made any consid- erable advance toward the goal he set for himself. A systematic prosecution of the various branches of social science, especially political economy, sociol- ogy, anthropology, and psychology, is succeeding in explaining many things; but history must always remain, from the standpoint of the astronomer, physicist, or chemist, a highly inexact and fragmentary body of knowledge. .... History can no doubt be pursued in a strictly scientific spirit, but the data we possess in regard to the past of mankind are not of a nature to lend themselves to organization into an exact science, although, as we shall see, they may yield truths of vital importance.^
History has not become, as Comte believed it must, an exact science, and sociology has not taken its place in the social sciences. It is important, however, for understanding the mutations which have taken place in sociology since Comte to remember that it had
' Henry Adams, The Dcgradaiiou of the Democratic Dopna (Kew York, 1919), p. 126.
^ James Harvey Robinson, The New History, Essays Illustrating the Modern Historical Outlook (New York, 1912), pp. 54-55.
6 INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE OF SOCIOLOGY
its origin in an effort to make history exact. This, with, to be sure, considerable modifications^ is still, as we shall see, an ambition of the science.
II. HISTORICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL FACTS
Sociology, as Comte conceived it, was not, as it has been char- acterized, "a highly important point of view," but a fundamental science, i.e., a method of investigation and "a body of discoveries about mankind."^ In the hierarchy of the sciences, sociology, the last in time, was first in importance. The order was as follows: mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology including psychology, sociology. This order represented a progression from the more elementary to the more complex. It was because history and politics were concerned with the most complex of natural phe- nomena that they were the last to achieve what Comte called the