Sociology in Metaphysical Stage 115 



subject was in confusion and disorder. The most 

 childish and incredible theories could be formu- 

 lated and pubHshed without injuring the reputa- 

 tion of their author. 



The same situation, to a large extent, holds in 

 the science of sociology a century later. Many 

 persons still deny to sociology the right to be 

 considered as an exact science, and pour ridicule 

 upon it. Outside of the American universities 

 very little serious attention is given to the subject 

 in the academic world. In the German universi- /' 

 ties, for example, which have led the world in the 

 studies of the humanities, philosophy, and history, | 

 not a single course in sociology was given as latei 

 as 1914. 



The reasons why sociology is discredited at the 

 present time are largely the same reasons which 

 discredited geology a century ago. Numerous 

 observations have been collected, and numer- 

 ous facts have been placed in evidence, but no 

 Ariadne's thread has been discovered which leads 

 out of the labyrinth, and all manner of hypotheses 

 can be advanced without any necessity for bringing 

 them to the touchstone of concrete facts. With 

 the exception of a few noteworthy books, the sub- 

 ject of sociology is in a state of complete incoher- 

 ence. Biological phenomena are confused with 

 social facts. Men who call themselves specialists 

 in the subject can still seriously identify the rela- 

 tions between France and Germany, for example, 

 with those between a cat and a rat without doing 





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