Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 1.djvu/664

652 new, as the chemical combination of an acid and a base forms a salt. So individualism and socialism should form a social reaction, producing a new body of religious and economic doctrine. Into this the social question resolves itself—that the individualist should become social and the socialist become individualistic. This substitution is the profound law of social redemption. ( in the Revue du Christianisme Pratique, December 1895.)

The Problems of Interest and of Capital are further discussed from the same point of view but upon more technical economic grounds, tracing the historical distinction between the older forms of capital and the modern ones, in a series of articles by, the initial one of which appears in L'Association Catholique; Revue des Questions Sociales et Ouvrières for January 1 896.

Social History; Its Nature, Method and Purpose.—Social history is the history of the economic and moral conditions which have determined the formation and development of races. Morals in this sense includes both social and individual morality, that is both customs and manners. The method is to study the origin, development and decline of institutions, their structure, functions and relation to environment. So also with arts and literature, the military and political history of the people. The fundamental principle of interpretation is the Aristotelian one: "reject the accidental and admit only the essential." It is less difficult in history to scientifically establish general laws than particular events. The most important factor of national life, is the common people. If one measures the greatness of things by their extent and duration, then the most common becomes the most important, for they represent the principle part of human activity. This offers a field for an exact science. It offers a more important advantage. Through such a study there will develop a true intellectual union of the people, and through this intelligence will develop community, as well as individual, activities and affections. ( in La Reform Sociale, January 1896.)

The Social Doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church are stated in an article entitled The Church and Social Science. These doctrines are formulated in the gospels, the writings of the Christian Fathers, and in the encyclicals of the popes, especially those of the reigning pontiff. The fundamental expression is in the Lord's Prayer, which asserts the brotherhood of man; not a fraternity of words, but of the heart. It also involves a fundamental equality, not a mechanical one, and thus declares true liberty. The order of the triune virtues are thus reversed, for fraternity is the fundamental one. Consequently the church is uncompromisingly opposed to slavery. No less positive is its duty to relieve poverty; and further, by its teachings as to the rights and duties of private property and as to labor to strike at the roots of poverty. By its law of Sunday rest and its law against usury it has sought to prevent the violent exploitation of the labor of others. These are the main points of a vast programme which justifies the statement that Catholicism is a social doctrine of the most pronounced type. The social welfare is to be obtained by means of individual welfare; for Christianity is opposed to a social pantheism as well as to a religious pantheism. ( in L'Association Catholique; Revue des Questions Sociales et Ouvrières, January 1896.)

Causal Relations in Society.—A review of the countless attempts and methods to establish the relations of cause and effect that obtain in society leads to the conclusion that the statistical method cannot suffice to establish such relationships. Statics, like sociology, studies the structure of society, but there is a wide difference between the methods employed respectively. Statistics investigates in the first instance statistical conditions, and phenomena of uniformity, whereas sociology is concerned particularly with the general direction in which human evolution is progressing. ( in Vierteljahrschrift für Staats- und Volkswirtschaft, January 1896. Hirschfeld, Leipzig.)