EVOLUTION 1109 



tradition of human societies, and practically of these alone. This 

 heritage is passed on, more or less imperfectly, from generation to 

 generation, at least during the existence of the given society; yet 

 not by organic heredity; but by Social Filiation, to use Comte's 

 initial term. Sociology has thus from its outset been inquiring into 

 social heritages, as the essential characteristic of each and every 

 known form of society, from the simplest observed by the anthro- 

 pologist (and now also the earlier ones disclosed by the archseologist), 

 to the historic civilisations which have so variously contributed to 

 our own; while this latter is being scrutinised with ever-increasing 

 intensiveness. Plainly and sociologically distinct from organic 

 heredity in man, is obviously the progress of his arts, as from those 

 of rude flints and earliest fires to our modem masteries of tools and 

 of machines, of steam and electricity; or from floating log and hol- 

 lowed tree, to the ships of to-day; and all with advances of industrial 

 specialisation and skill, even organisation too, though that be still 

 so obviously imperfect. Or again from herbalisms and wizardries 

 to scientific medicine, and so on. 



Manners, customs, and laws are other heritage-elements imder 

 increasing scrutiny; and so beyond these again, the moral and 

 religious systems, the philosophies, and the sciences; and especially 

 concerned with the continuance, the filiation of them all, are the 

 historic languages and their literatures, and those current as well. 

 Sociology has thus from its very outset been committed not merely 

 to learning from the preceding sciences, each and all ; but especially 

 to the encyclopedic reinvestigation of all "the humanities", and also 

 to all that "practical life" — industrial and economic, social and 

 political, etc. — has shown, or can show. Hence among these there 

 has long been manifest the broad distinction of all these elements, 

 respectively as "temporal" and "spiritual" heritages and powers — 

 "State and Church", for most familiar example. From this distinc- 

 tion there arises the classing of men in their social f unctionings ; no 

 longer as the breeds or races of the biologist, nor as the visuals, 

 auditives, etc., of the psychologist, but now as the "people and 

 chiefs", the "intellectuals and expressionals", and of whom work- 

 men and masters, thinkers and leaders, are standard types, 

 respectively "temporal" and "spiritual" in social terms. 



SOCIAL EVOLUTION— By recent sociological writers, a man, 

 viewed as a social unit, is no longer described as an "Individual". 

 This term is being left to biology and its associated (and ele- 

 mentary) psychology, and to past economic and political thought, 

 as illuminating their limitations. For current sociology, its imit is 

 the "Socius", or Socian, i.e. the member of society, and always a 

 social agent, whether for good or ill. 



Social "Heritage" and its continuance by "Filiation", have 



