Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/845

 THE BASIS OF SOCIAL SOLIDARITY 831

contagion turned astray — the plastic emotional type ; evil disposi- tion, egoistic volition, destructive intention — the deliberate type. All show the character we have come to expect ; all illustrate the levels of determination described above: biological, psychological, social.

How inadequate both the sociology and the penology which do not recognize these distinctions in theory and in practice! How inadequate too the theory of solidarity that fails to see them ! Crime cannot be defined in a single abstract formula. In a given case we may have before us a biological reaction, an outburst of passion, a deliberate decision of will. So it is with all the princi- pal concepts of social science — conflict, progress, etc.

Let us have the facts in each case, not abstract and verbal definitions. And let us be patient and tentative in the interpreta- tion of the facts we have.