Sociology and Modern Social Problems | Page 4

not
saying, of course, that sociology does not consider social evils, but that
it considers them as incidents in the normal processes of social
evolution rather than as its special matter. A second conception of
sociology which is to be dismissed as inadequate is the conception that
it is the science of social phenomena. This conception is not incorrect,
but is somewhat vague, as there are manifestly other sciences of social
phenomena, such as economics and political science. Such a conception

of sociology would make it include everything in human society. A
third faulty conception is that it is the science of human institutions.
This is faulty because it again is too narrow. An institution is a
sanctioned form of human association, while sociology deals with the
ephemeral and unsanctioned forms, such as we see in the phenomena of
mobs, crazes, fads, fashions, and crimes, as well as with the sanctioned
forms. A fourth conception which might be criticized is that sociology
is the science of social organization. This makes sociology deal with
the laws or principles of the relations of individuals to one another, and
of institutions to one another. It is to be criticized as faulty because it
fails to emphasize the evolution of those relations. All science is now
evolutionary in spirit and in method and believes that things cannot be
understood except as they are understood in their genesis and
development. It would, therefore, perhaps be more correct to define
sociology as the science of the evolution of human interrelations than
to define it simply as the science of social organization.
The Problems of Sociology.--The problems of sociology fall into two
great classes; first, problems of the organization of society, and second,
problems of the evolution of society. The problems of the organization
of society are problems of the relations of individuals to one another
and to institutions. Such problems are, for example, the influence of
various elements in the physical environment upon the social
organization; or, again, the influence of various elements in human
nature upon the social order. These problems are, then, problems of
society in a hypothetically stationary condition or at rest. For this
reason Comte, the founder of modern sociology, called the division of
sociology which deals with such problems Social Statics. But the
problems which are of most interest and importance in sociology are
those of social evolution. Under this head we have the problem of the
origin of society in general and also of various forms of association.
More important still are the problems of social progress and social
retrogression; that is, the causes of the advancement of society to
higher and more complex types of social organization and the causes of
social decline. The former problem, social progress, is in a peculiar
sense the central problem of sociology. The effort of theoretical
sociology is to develop a scientific theory of social progress. The study

of social evolution, then, that is, social changes of all sorts, as we have
emphasized above, is the vital part of sociology; and it is manifest that
only a general science of society like sociology is competent to deal
with such a problem. Inasmuch as the problems of social evolution are
problems of change, development, or movement in society, Comte
proposed that this division of sociology be called Social Dynamics.
The Relations of Sociology to Other Sciences. [Footnote: For a fuller
discussion of the relations of sociology to other sciences and to
philosophy see my article on "Sociology: Its Problems and Its
Relations" in the American Journal of Sociology for November,
1907.]--(A) _Relations to Biology and Psychology._ In attempting to
give a scientific view of social organization and social evolution,
sociology has to depend upon the other natural sciences, particularly
upon biology and psychology. It is manifest that sociology must
depend upon biology, since biology is the general science of life, and
human society is but part of the world of life in general. It is manifest
also that sociology must depend upon psychology to explain the
interactions between individuals because these interactions are for the
most part interactions between their minds. Thus on the one hand all
social phenomena are vital phenomena and on the other hand nearly all
social phenomena are mental phenomena. Every social problem has, in
other words, its psychological and its biological sides, and sociology is
distinguished from biology and psychology only as a matter of
convenience. The scientific division of labor necessitates that certain
scientific workers concern themselves with certain problems. Now, the
problems with which the biologist and the psychologist deal are not the
problems of the organization and evolution of society. Hence, while the
sociologist borrows his principles of interpretation from biology and
psychology, he has his own distinctive problems, and it is this fact
which makes sociology a