TECHNOLOGY, OR THE SCIENCE OF INDUSTRIES 



Introduction 



In former reports I have classified human activities as 

 pleasures, industries, institutions, expressions, and opinions. 

 In my last report I discussed pleasures as the science of 

 esthetology. I now propose to set forth the nature of indus- 

 tries as the science of technology, of institutions as the science 

 of sociology, of expressions as the science of philology, and 

 of opinions as the science of sophiology. 



An industry is an activity whose immediate motive is the 

 production of welfare for self and others. The term welfare 

 has various meanings, but here we use it as signifying welfare 

 of life — not esthetic, moral, expressional, or mental welfare. 

 An industry by this definition means an activity exercised to 

 promote life. We must remember that in this discussion, 

 which is meant to be scientific, whether it succeeds or not, the 

 term mdustnj is used in this sense and in no other. 



We use activities as a generic term including five species: 

 esthetics, industries, institutions, expressions, and instructions. 

 In this paper we are to consider industries. 



Technology is the science of industries. An industry is an 

 activity whose purpose is welfare or liveliliood. We must 

 here make clear the distinction between esthetic activity and 

 industrial activity. The maid dances for the pleasure of her- 

 self or of others. If she dances for others it is a pleasure for 

 them, though she may dance for gain — that is, welfare; still, it 

 is an esthetic activity. A company of musicians make music 

 for an audience; the audience pays for the entertainment. To 

 the musicians the making of the music is an industrial activity, 

 but to the audience it is an esthetic entertainment. Thus, 

 whether an activity be designed for pleasure or for welfare 

 will often depend on the point of view of the person interested 

 therein. 



