THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY 



In the first place the evolution of society, 

 no less than the evolution of life, conforms to 

 that universal law of evolution discovered by 

 Mr. Spencer, and Illustrated at length In earlier 

 chapters. The brief survey just taken shows us 

 that social progress consists primarily In the in- 

 tegration of small and simple communities Into 

 larger communities that are of higher and higher 

 orders of composition ; and in the more and 

 more complete subordination of the psychical 

 forces which tend to maintain isolation to the 

 psychical forces which tend to maintain aggrega- 

 tion. In these respects the prime features of 

 social progress are the prime features of evolu- 

 tion in general. 



In the second place, the progress of society 

 exhibits those secondary features of differentia- 

 tion and integration which evolution universally 

 exhibits. The advance from indefinite homo- 

 geneity to definite heterogeneity in structure 

 and function Is a leading characteristic of social 

 progress. On considering primitive societies, 

 we find them affected by no causes of hetero- 

 geneity except those resulting from the estab- 

 lishment of the various family relationships. 

 As Sir Henry Maine has shown, in early times 

 the family and not the individual was the social 

 unit. In the absence of anything like national 

 or even civic organization, each family chief was 

 a monarch in miniature, uniting in his own 



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