Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/229

 THE NATURE OF THE SOCIAL UNITY 217

does not have conscious experience. There is no social over-soul. There is no single psychic process corresponding to the whole of the social process. Consequently, society is not a subjectively organic whole. It is not a psychic whole. Social ends are objective. To be real, or subjective, they must be reflected in the conscious experience of some person. The words " function," " purpose," " end," and " means " when applied to the social unity are used in a purely objective sense. Otherwise there is a social over-soul.

Society, then, is an objectively organic unity in that the pur- poses and ends of society are not consciously experienced by society as a whole, but are reflected in the experience of the psychic individual. So far the social unity is similar to that of the plant. To this extent the biological analogy is better than the psychological analogy. Still the social unity differs from that of the plant. How does it differ?

If by analysis we break up the biological process into parts, and then still further break these up, and so continue to the smallest partial process known, we shall get, first, partial processes describable in biological terms; then, smaller and smaller pro- cesses similarly describable; and, finally, processes that can be described only in physical and chemical terms. Thus in the plant there are germination, nutrition, growth, and fruiting pro- cesses described in terms of plant function. Taking any one process, say nutrition, it can be subdivided into absorption, elaboration, circulation, assimilation, etc. processes described in terms of plant function. Then take one of these, say elaboration, and it can be described finally only in physical or chemical terms the food material undergoes certain chemical changes, and its physical properties are likewise altered. // we look for the real end or purpose, we cannot find it in the plant as a whole nor in any part. It is outside and belongs to a person.

Now, if we similarly analyze the social process into its greater and smaller parts, the series will be in some respects different. Breaking up the social process into its parts, there are, first, partial social processes of various grades that is, pro- cesses describable in terms of social function. Continuing, we