Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 1.djvu/497

Rh clearly presents itself. The progress thus far may be summarized as follows:

a) It has been shown that knowledge about society has grown steadily clearer and better organized so that social phenomena are susceptible of scientific study.

b) Social phenomena have been in general discriminated from other subject matter.

c) Social phenomena have been at least tentatively classified and

d) Distributed among certain sciences which are at present dealing with them.

The questions confronting us then are: (a) are any social phenomena neglected? (b) is any organization of results desirable.

IX.

With the progress of knowledge about society certain needs or demands have arisen. These may be in general grouped under four divisions

1. Demands for the coördination and integration of all kinds of knowledge about society into a coherent system, i. e., the combination of abstractions into a concrete account of reality. This interpretation must have two aspects:

a) Insight into the contemporary order or historical régimes.

b) Explanation of the process of change by which past régimes have succeeded each other and produced the present.

2. Demands for the scientific investigation of certain social phenomena that are not specifically or adequately dealt with by other sciences.

4. Demands for the construction, on the basis of scientific observation, of social ideals to which the nature of men and society may be gradually readjusted.

5. Demands for the utilization of knowledge about society, i. e., the practical application of social forces in such a way as to give development at least a tendency toward an ideal.