Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/673

 THE TEACHING OF SOCIOLOGY 659

moment we ourselves should admit that there is existent no sci- ence of sociology, and that the term merely represented an "atti- tude of mind," we would the next instant set about the making of the science, for the idea of it is fully born and a place must be made for it sooner or later among the sciences. Under such conditions the sociologist would simply have to maintain a faith in "the substance of things hoped for," or else dream prophetic- ally of a future such as that Joseph dreamed about when his brothers' sheaves bowed themselves before him.

In the second place it has seemed to us important to distin- guish carefully between the special social sciences devoted to some particular aspect or institution of society, and sociology proper as the science of laws and principles underlying human association. Here I must admit a dilemma arises. As a teacher of political science shall I assert with Brother Ford that there is no science of sociology, or as a sociologist shall I vindicate with Brother Small the right of sociology to exist ?^ This is a ques- tion of no small importance and one cannot afford to dismiss it summarily. Yet the admission must be made that almost from the beginning at Brown political science and sociology have had their respective jurisdictions marked out, a modus vivendi agreed on, and peace maintained by having both subjects taught by the same teachers. Through these precautions we have never really had need to discuss the matter, but have naturally assumed that sociology is a science outranking the other in the hierarchy of the social sciences. Furthermore, the department of economics has always been in close affiliation with our department, so that in teaching these three great branches of human knowledge we have steadily worked together, harmonizing courses and agreeing on the several "spheres of influence" of these sciences.

In respect to other departments where friction might conceiv- ably arise, time has brought about a full recognition of sociology's right to exist, and though our treaties of amity and peace have occasionally assumed the form of an armistice on the field of battle, yet there is in general an acknowledgement that several sciences may cover all or parts of the same field of phenomena

^ See Controversy, American Journal of Sociology, VoL XV, Nos. i and 2.