Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/39

 THE SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY 27

impulse. Although he never entirely shook off the traditions of that stage of thinking, he was of course eminent in promoting critical study of society.

It would be a task for the historian of sociology to assign due credit for the later attitude of the sociologists. We need not stop for that. The point is that, under the influence of the critical spirit, the reaction against sociological sentimentalism has well-nigh paralyzed the progressive and constructive impulses which did credit to the zeal, if not the discretion, of the older doctrinaires and agitators. The latter felt a " woe is me " if they did not act for the immediate benefit of society. The later crit- ical sociologists successfully discouraged the active impulse. In some cases it is hard to believe that the impulse existed. They held that we must know the facts about society before we can reconstruct society by artificial means. They have accordingly been working without much organization, but with a division of labor which has pretty closely covered the ground, in spite of the fact that the co-operation was accidental and unconscious. Taking the results of all the critical sociologists together, we have preliminary surveys of all the activities of society. These are sufficient guides to justify resumption of attempts to look ahead. That is, we have not reached any conclusions which have much value as premises for social dogmas, but we have some pretty distinct outline maps of social activities in all their stages and variations. We have no formulas that are worth any- thing for quantitative measurement of social influences past, present, or future; but we have such means of qualitative social analysis that we may feel fairly well acquainted with society in principle, while we lack knowledge of less general details.

This abstract and general knowledge, moreover, is at our dis- posal for practical work. If it is valid science, it forms a secure basis, so far as it goes, for progress such as the early sentimental- ists desired. If our present sociological knowledge is of a kind capable of supporting more practical activities, there is also enough of it to give those activities strong impulse.

In other words, the sociologists have served a sufficiently long apprenticeship in pure science, or in attempts to perfect the