CHAPTER XIV 
ACTIVE SOCIAL ADAPTATION 
AcTIVE spiritual (including social) adaptation was defined in the 
Introduction as “ the purposeful adjustment of the individual to 
his spiritual environment, social, ideal and transcendental, the 
work of true teachers and social reformers, and purposeful social 
control.” We have already noted many contributions to the 
development of this phase of our subject, but have reserved till 
now the discussion of it as a specific form of social progress. 
This doctrine of active spiritual adaptation has one root in the 
monism of Schopenhauer with Will as the supreme characteristic 
of the All, especially as this has been interpreted through the 
writings of Nietzsche (combined in his social philosophy with 
neo-Darwinism), and through the philosophy of William Wundt 
with emphasis on “ teleology,” and adopted in sociology by 
Ratzenhofer and Ward. It hasa second root in the a priorism of 
Kant which brings into prominence the activity of the ego in the 
acquirement of knowledge, also in his doctrine of the practical 
reason with exaltation of the will, especially as this has issued in 
modern pragmatism. It has a third root in modern social psy- 
chology issuing in a kind of social realism with its doctrine of 
social will. 
Since Darwin there has been a growing tendency to fuse these 
various philosophical teachings and interpret them in terms of 
life and adaptation. We have noted this tendency in our pre- 
vious discussions and the contributions to it by various social 
philosophers, especially important being Tarde’s theory of inno- 
vation, Bagehot’s doctrine of progress by discussion, the teaching 
of Schiffle and other social psychologists concerning the social 
will, Ward’s theory of individual and social telesis, and the 
emphasis placed by Patten and Carver on idealization, religion 
and social control in the wide-spread production of surplus 
and its wise use. In this chapter and the next, under “ active 
social adaptation ” we will consider Novicow’s “ hierarchy of 
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