THE SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY 21$
think that intemperance exists whenever fermented or alcoholic liquors are swallowed in any form or quantity, and that igno- rance is lack of a college education. Accordingly the phenom- ena of the continued consumption of liquors, in spite of laws against intemperance, and of persistent non-consumption of school privileges, in spite of laws against ignorance, are equally and alike inevitable manifestations of the actual assortment of desires out of which the community life is composed. We repeat, then, the problem of changing the facts is the problem of transform- ing the interests (desires) that make the facts. Social efficiency, on the part of persons zealous to alter the facts, involves skill in discovering the actual character of the desires present, knowl- edge of the psychology of desires, and tact in the social peda- gogy and politics and diplomacy which convert less into more social desires.
These statements imply all the reasons for the study of funda- mental sociology. From first to last our life is a web woven by our interests. Sociology may be said to be the science of human interests and their workings under all conditions, just as chemistry is sometimes defined as "the science of atoms and their behavior under all conditions." Man at his least is merely a grubbing and mating animal. He has developed no interests beyond those of grubbing and mating, or those tributary to grubbing and mating. Every civilization in the world today carries along a certain percentage of survivals of this order of interests, and societies still exist wholly on the level of these interests. On the other hand, some men develop such attenuated spiritual interests that they pay only perfunctory and grudging tribute to the body at all, and live in an atmosphere of unworldly contemplation. Between these extremes are the activities of infinitely composite society, moved by infinite diversities of interests. These interests, however, as we have seen, are varia- tions and permutations of a few rudimentary interests. Our knowledge of sociology, i. e., our systematized knowledge of human society, will be measured by the extent of our ability to interpret all human society in terms of its effective interests.
4. Association. Some of the terms in our schedule may be
