SOCIOLOGY. 307 SOCIOLOGY. these are the true subject matter of social sci- ence. Such conceptious liave been developed by A. SchlitHe, in the Ban iiiid Ltbcn dcs socialen Korpers (Tubingen, 1875), and (.iuilluume De Greef, in his Inlroduclioii a la sociologie (Brus- sels, 18S(i-8'J ) , as well as by nianj' lesser writers. In like manner the psychologit-al conception of society presupposes the physiographic explana- tions, and it does not deny that in a general sense society may be regarded as organic. But it prefers Spencer's word, superorganic, because it insists that social relations are essentially facts of mind. Consequently it denies that so- ciety is explained until we laiow how the mental operations of individuals are combined in the common sentiments and opinions and expressed in the collective w'ill of the comnuinity. A psychological conception of society has been elaborated by Lester F. Ward in his Dynamio Socioloyi/ (New York 1883), Psychic Factors of Cioilization (Boston, 1893), Outlines of So- ciology (New York, 1898), and Fure Sociology (New Y'ork, 1903). The psychological concep- tion has been further develujied by Gabriel Tarde, Lcs lois de Vimitation (Paris, 1890), La logiquc sociale (Paris, 189.5), and in numerous other writings. Tarde finds the elementary and distinctive social fact in imitation. Emile Durkheim, De la division du- travail sociail (Paris, 1893), and Le Bon, Psychologic des follies (Paris, 1895), find it in the impression which the crowd makes upon thi; individual or the strong personality xipon the crowd. Psy- chological interpretations also are those found in Edward A. Ross, Social Control (New York, 1901). To the ethnographic systems of sociology be- long those interpretations which emphasize the ceaseless struggles among tribes, nations, and races, and find ultimate explanations of social integration and difl'erentiation in conquests and absorptions of the weak by the strong. A note- worthy system of this description is that of Ludwig Gumplowicz, Dcr Jiassenkamiif (Inns- bruck, 1883), and Grundriss der Sociologie (Vienna, 1885). In these works the origins of social evolution are found in the conflicts, amal- gamations, and assimilations of heterogeneous ethnic groups. To the same class of studies be- longs the work of J. Novicow, Les liittes entre des socictes hiiniaines (Paris, 1893), in which the phenomena of conflict and alliance are treated as fundamental. An obvious criticism upon the ethnographic schemes of sociology is that they take society already existent for granted. They do not ac- count for the origins of society as such. The im- mediate antecedents of all social relations are facts of the psychological order. But these facts, of course, are themselves conditioned by bio- logical and physiographic relations. It appears, therefore, that sociological theories should start from psychological premises, but that the cor- relation of all processes with the character of the physical environment should lie recognized throughout. This is attempted by Franklin H. Giddings, Principles of Socioloqv (New Y'ork, 1896), Elements of Sociology (New Y^ork, 1898), and Inductive Sociology (New Y'ork. 1901). He derives all social phenomena from the like re- sponses of a plural number of individuals to the same or like stimuli. Habitual like response constitutes mental and moral resemblance. Those who are mentally and morally alike become aware of their similarity. Awareness of resem- blance beginning in mere feeling or sympathy, but becoming perceptive and rational, is called the consciousness of kind. Those who share the consciousness of kind develop their like responses to stimuli into a concerted volition which be- comes a practical coiiperation for useful ends, and systematic cooperation develops into the more or less enduring forms of social organiza- tion. This chain of processes has antecedents in the density and composition of the population, which, in turn, are determined by the character of the pliysical environment. Certain regions maintain homogeneous ]iopulations only. Others attract heterogeneous populations, the composi- tion of which determines the possibilities of common response to stimuli. SYSTEMATIC SOCIOLOGY. Systematic sociology is naturally divided into four parts, namely : ( 1 ) The critical examina- tion of data, methods, and problems, including the delimitation of sociology from other sciences ; (2) descriptive sociology, an analysis and clas- sification of contemporaneous social facts, with generalizations concerning social processes; (3) historical sociology, a study of the evolution of society from animal groupings and the communi- ties of primitive men, down to the civilized na- tions of modern times; (4) theoretical or ex- planatory sociology, an attempt to derive from the description and history of society, and from the general principles of evolution, a theory of social causation. Critical Examination. Some of the chief topics falling within the first of these divisions of systematic sociology have been touched on in the foregoing account of the history of the science. Descriptive Sociology. A few words of analysis of the subject matter, namely, social phenomena, may fitly introduce an account of the second division, descriptive sociology. A fact of the physiographic order is the starting point. Tliroughout the universe as known to man, ob- jects of like kind are commonly grouped or segregated in space, and not scattered in a dis- orderly distribution. This is more particularly true of living organisms, all species of which have their respective geographic areas, and with- in these their favorite habitats or haunts. Plants of any given variety arc usually found massed in ])articular places. Animal organisms are com- monly found in swarms, bands, or flocks. Hu- man beings live in hordes, tribes, and nations. From this purely physical fact, we pass in the analysis of society to facts correlnted with men- tal activity, and then to facts psychological. Of all the resemblances which may be observed in the units or individuals constituting a normal aggregation of living creatures, the two of cliief importance are ( 1 ) morphological and physio- logical similarities produced by common descent and interbreeding, and therefore correlated with degrees of kinship; (2) similarities of nervous organization and mental activity which may or may not be closely associated with degrees of kinship. On the functional side the most general phase of like nervous organization is a like responsiveness to the same stimulus or to like stimuli. Under the same or like circum- stances two or more animals or human be-
