240 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



SOCIOLOGICAL SCIENCE II? ITS LATER 

 STATEMENTS. 



THAT man, as an individual, exem- 

 plifies the action of law in the vari- 

 ous parts of his nature, and is hence the 

 subject of science, everybody now un- 

 derstands : but that men collectively, or 

 in social relations, are governed by nat- 

 ural laws which are capable of scien- 

 tific investigation, is only beginning 

 to be seen and admitted. If there 

 are natural laws which determine the 

 social state, it is certainly of the 

 highest importance that they should 

 be known. Legislation, philanthropy, 

 and all projects of social amelioration 

 and reform, must be but futile and 

 quackish expedients, so long as men 

 are ignorant of the natural forces, and 

 orderly method, by which human so- 

 ciety has been originated and is regu- 

 lated. Social phenomena have their 

 laws like all other phenomena, and it 

 is the sole business of science to eluci- 

 date and declare them. Science has 

 no schemes to propose, no reforms 

 to carry out. Whether society is bad 

 or good, rude or cultivated, getting 

 better or getting worse, developing or 

 perishing, it is all the same: science 

 simply takes note of the facts, and 

 draws from them the general principles 

 to which social changes conform, and 

 the systematic statement of which con- 

 stitutes true social science. 



It is from this point of view that 

 the subject has been approached by 

 Herbert Spencer, who is now acknowl- 

 edged to be the foremost living exposi- 

 tor of pure scientific sociology. Some 

 confusion has arisen in the public mind 

 in regard to the various works bearing 

 upon this subject which he has under- 

 taken, and for the benefit of those in- 

 terested we propose to explain his 



method of dealing with it, as this may 

 prove instructive in relation to the 

 character of the inquiry itself. 



Mr. Spencer was attracted to social 

 studies in his youth. His first publica- 

 tion was a pamphlet on the proper 

 sphere and functions of political govern- 

 ment, and his first book was a treatise 

 on society, known as " Social Statics." 

 It was a work of great originality and 

 power of statement, and its fundamen- 

 tal idea was that of his present philo- 

 sophical system, the idea of evolution ; 

 but it was only imperfectly worked out, 

 and the effect upon Mr. Spencer's mind 

 of preparing the volume was to con- 

 vince him that the whole question of 

 the natural laws of society would have 

 to be taken up in a more thorough and 

 comprehensive way, before the require- 

 ments of science could be satisfied. As 

 society is made up of men, its deepest 

 laws must be derived from the natures 

 of men. The first thing to be done, 

 therefore, was to inquire what there is 

 in the constitution of human nature 

 which must be known, before social ef- 

 fects can be understood. Man's nature 

 is twofold, vital and psychical ; and all 

 social phenomena are phenomena of 

 life and thought, which determine hu- 

 man actions. The laws of life give 

 rise to the science of Biology; the laws 

 of thought and feeling, which depend 

 upon life, give rise to the science of 

 Psychology ; and a knowledge of these 

 subjects forms the indispensable basis 

 of Sociology. So clear and close is 

 this dependence, and so comprehensive 

 and complex the investigation, that 

 Mr. Spencer soon saw he must give his 

 life to it, if it was to be adequately 

 done. He accordingly laid out his plan 

 of work in 1859, and commenced its 

 execution in 1860, allowing twenty 



