Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/262

 248 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

the genus society we have such species as the family, the church, the state, each of which contains a large number of specific or concrete societies."* A little later on he notes that "the 'endless multiplicity' of society is perplexing, and there is a strong tempn tation to make the state the unity of which the multiplicity is but a differentiation or at least an integral part of the state. "^ Here is a hypothesis diametrically opposed to the sociological hypo- thesis. It proposes as the true causal order, not that humanity creates the state, as sociology holds, but that the state creates humanity. But there is no suggestion as to any need of investi- gation to decide which hypothesis is sound. Stuckenberg dis- misses the matter by remarking: "But since society existed be- fore the state, and since all that now exists cannot be claimed as political, we are obliged to look for another bond of union than that of the state in order to interpret non-political associa- tions."

But did human society exist before the state? Mr. Stucken- berg's statement begs this important question, and the logic of his comment amounts to this: the political hypothesis cannot be accepted because it is incompatible with the sociological hypo- thesis and the sociological hypothesis is manifestly true. In the same way we find Professor Ellwood remarking: "It would seem to be plain without argument, then, that the state is but one of many forms of association with which sociology may deal." Indeed, it seems almost impossible to get a sociologist to con- sider the possibility that the truth may be just the other way from what he supposes; that, instead of the genesis of society from individuals, what has taken place is the genesis of indi- viduals from society; that man did not make the state but the state made man and that it is an institution that existed before the human species was formed and was the instrument by which the human species was developed ; that the state and government are not the same thing, but that government is simply particular structure arising within the state; and that the state includes society just as any entity includes all its parts. Such notions as


 * Loc. cit., p. 9.
 * Loc. cit., p. 20.