BIOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, AND SOCIOLOGY. 167 



was this recognition of the dependence of sociology upon bipl- 

 ogy." Moreover a subsequent sentence runs thus : 



"In the first jjlace, all social actions being cletermiDed by the actions 

 of individuals, and all actions of individuals being- vital actions that con- 

 form to the laws of life at large, rational interpretation of social actions 

 implies knowledge of the laws of life." 



But though these passages seem to support the interpretation of 

 my views which I repudiate, yet on looking at the context it will 

 be seen that this is not so. For, as shown by preceding and suc- 

 ceeding passages, " the laws of life at large," as here understood, 

 are laws comprehensive of both bodily life and mental life. 

 Though, as I have conspicuously shown, I do not, like M. Comte, 

 merge psychology in biology though, under its objective aspect, 

 I regard it as a science clearly marked off, and under its subjec- 

 tive aspect as a science fundamentally contrasted with all others ; 

 yet, as every one must do, I admit that the science of mind is de- 

 pendent on the science of life. For we know nothing whatever 

 of mind save as exhibited by living bodies. That by " laws of 

 life at large " I mean laws of bodily life and mental life taken 

 together, is, indeed, clearly implied by the use of the words " the 

 actions of individuals," as being dependent on these laws of life ; 

 since the actions of individuals are all mentally determined. But 

 there are set forth in the chapter named, certain direct depend- 

 encies of social phenomena on vital phenomena. It is said that 

 the sociologist must learn " the laws of modification to which or- 

 ganized beings in general conform " ; that he must recognize the 

 effects of use and disuse in causing increase and decrease of bodily 

 and mental powers ; that he must remember how, as a conse- 

 quence, human nature "is always adapting itself both directly 

 and indirectly to its conditions of existence"; and that he must 

 bear in mind the truth that " every species of creature goes on 

 multiplying till it reaches the limit at which its mortality from 

 all causes balances its fertility," so that taking away one cause of 

 mortality by and by entails intensification of other causes aris- 

 ing from increased pressure of population. Against this evi- 

 dence, however, has to be set the evidence contained in the next 

 chapter, which shows the still more important dependencies of 

 sociology upon psychology, and ends with the conclusion that 

 " without preparation in mental science there can be no social 

 science." 



But the small regard paid to all the proofs given at the outset 

 that the psychic factors of social phenomena are by me consid- 

 ered the predominant ones, appears to have resulted from think- 

 ing only of the parallelism I have asserted between certain traits 

 of individual organisms and certain traits of social organisms. 

 Prof. Giddings writes : 



