XXIII 



DARWINISM AND SOCIOLOGY 

 By C. Bougle. 



Professor of Social Philosophy in the University of Toulouse and 

 Deputy-Professor at the Sorbonne, Paris. 



How has our conception of social phenomena, and of their history, 

 been affected by Darwin's conception of Nature and the laws of its 

 transformations? To what extent and in what particular respects 

 have the discoveries and hypotheses of the author of The Origin of 

 Species aided the efforts of those who have sought to construct a 

 science of society ? 



To such a question it is certainly not easy to give any brief or 

 precise answer. We find traces of Darwinism almost everywhere. 

 Sociological systems differing widely from each other have laid claim 

 to its authority ; while, on the other hand, its influence has often 

 made itself felt only in combination with other influences. The 

 Darwinian thread is worked into a hundred patterns along with 

 other threads. 



To deal with the problem, we must, it seems, first of all distinguish 

 the more general conclusions in regard to the evolution of living 

 beings, which are the outcome of Darwinism, from the particular 

 explanations it offers of the ways and means by which that evolution 

 is eflected. That is to say, we must, as far as possible, estimate 

 separately the influence of Darwin as an evolutionist and Darwin as 

 a selectionist. 



The nineteenth century, said Cournot, has witnessed a mighty 

 effort to " reintegrer I'homme dans la nature." From divers quarters 

 there has been a methodical reaction against the persistent dualism 

 of the Cartesian tradition, which was itself the unconscious heir of 

 the Christian tradition. Even the philosophy of the eighteenth 

 century, materialistic as were for the most part the tendencies of 

 its leaders, seemed to revere man as a being apart, concerning whom 

 laws might be formulated a priori. To bring him down from his 

 pedestal there was needed the marked predominance of positive 

 researches wherein no account was taken of the "pride of man." There 

 can be no doubt that Darwin has done much to familiarise us with 

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