CHAPTER VIII 



FORCE AND THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE 



THE philosophy of force, which is writ large in 

 the conduct of nations, runs all through the 

 social structiire and distorts all our ideas of human 

 relationships. We have noted already in Chapter 

 II., the manner in which "social Darwinism" 

 has supplied an apparently scientific foundation 

 for anti-social theories ranging from extreme 

 individualism and the policy of laissez-faire to 

 the most ruthless forms of modern Imperialism. 

 Wherever we examine closely the institutions of the 

 society in which we live we can trace the effects 

 of the tool — force — which man has used and mis- 

 used in the coiirse of his evolution. In what fol- 

 lows we shall try to find how far the introduction 

 of force, and of the philosophy which goes with it, 

 has reacted upon the society which has used it. 



The organization of the States for war pro- 

 foundly influences the political life of the nation 

 and results in certain definite social phenomena, af- 

 fecting even the personal conduct and ethics of each 

 individual citizen. Herbert Spencer' has traced 



' Principles of Sociology, vol. ii., part v., chapters xvii and xviii. 

 243 



