Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/86

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70 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

anthropology, and that many questions of both practical and theoretical import can only be solved, if solved at all, by the help of that science. The question of parallelism between the devel- opment of the individual and that of the race, with the conse- quences assumed by the culture-epoch theory that such a paral- lelism must determine the sequence of thought in the school curriculum ; the extent and character of the recapitulation of race experiences and interests in the individual ; the relation of motor activity to intellectual development in the individual and in the race, with its consequences for education ; the function of play in development, and its bearing upon the educational process — all these must be considered from the anthropo- logical standpoint as well as from the psychological, as has been the case hitherto. From the practical side, also, anthropology is coming to have an increasing significance for education, both directly and indirectly.

That the present status of anthropological science is such as to furnish pedagogy the needed assistance will hardly be claimed. Pedagogy needs many anthropological data not yet obtained ; it needs also principles of interpretation which must be derived from those facts organized in such way as to yield their pedago- gical significance. It may be claimed that the science itself is not yet suflRciently organized to furnish interpretive principles, but as long as the interest is focused on facts only, this will remain so. It is true that interpretation must be based on a broad foundation of facts, but the mere accumulation of data is insufficient. That observation and interpretation are mutually interpretive is a recognized principle in modern psychology. Its application to anthropological investigation has not been suffi- ciently recognized. Are the anthropological data insufficient to give an insight into the different phases of human development ? The organization of those thus far obtained into a working body of knowledge will hasten their accumulation.

It is evident that the value of anthropological data to any science seeking the aid that anthropology can give, will depend on the organization of the data from the standpoint of the science that seeks it. The facts of anthropology have received