THE study of man, and especially of human society, is likely 

 to rival the study of nature, and ought to be conducted in 

 the same spirit. But the methods of natural science are 

 not directly applicable to human nature, and man can be 

 explained only in terms of himself. 



The conditions which have made the solution of social 

 problems urgent. The hypothesis in the light of which 

 the solution must be sought that the Individual and Society 

 imply each other and that their welfare is coincident. Facts 

 which obscure this truth, and give plausibility to the one- 

 sided aims of the Individualist on the one hand and of the 

 Socialist on the other. The presupposition, which these 

 abstract doctrines hold in common, examined. How it is 

 contradicted by the history of the growth of civilization, 

 which is a progressive realization both of law and liberty. 



When and why the ends of the individual and those of 

 society are in conflict. The point of view from which the 

 State and its activities are mere means of the welfare of the 

 individual, and how in consequence the functions of the State 

 cannot be limited except at the expense of individual well- 

 being. But the State cannot perform its functions except by 

 developing the individuality of its citizens. The regulation 

 of "rights" is not their abolition but their ratification, and 

 the social tendencies of the present day do not point to a 

 limitation of individual enterprise ; for the private and public 

 will towards good are not in antagonism, but social and 

 individual evolution are two aspects of the same fact. 



