Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/853

 REVIEWS 839

ment of Modern Large-Scale Industry," assigned to him by Pro- fessor Conrad at Halle in 1886, grew into a comprehensive law of social evolution. One is prepared to agree with Dr. Aslanian that "la lecture en est difficile" and even to accept the reason, "par le fait que j 'envisage le progres de la humanite a un point de vue tout nouveau, sans me soucier des superstitions qui se sont enracinees" (p. v). The essay covers a bewildering range of topics among which the reader is constantly in danger of losing himself. The theories of many writers, ancient and modern, are discussed. Methodology receives a large amount of attention. Animal societies are used copiously for purposes of illustration. Philosophical and psychological problems crop up in large numbers. Quotations are frequent and generous in amount. Statistics of births, of mortality, and of migration appear in both text and appendix.

In spite of certain resumes and a chapter entitled "Conclusion," it is hard to gain a clear idea of the main thesis. The leading assumptions, principles, and inferences run somewhat as follows: man being assumed as a physically constant factor, the variable elements in the social order are antagonism and affinity on the human side and temperature and productivity on the material (p. xii). The intellectual equality of all peoples in a state of nature and the acquisition of intelligence as a function of a more complex social life are insisted upon. Men form societies within which solidarity is achieved and social bonds created. The result is a "train de vie" which the society strives to maintain against attack, direct or indirect. Differences among men consist wholly in degrees of solidarity and of the harmony of collective aspirations. The direction of social movement from warm to colder regions is not the result of intellectual guidance, of conscious, purposeful effort, but of collective instincts. Invention may hasten these displace- ments of civilization. The law applies only to the more important centers of culture. Variations are dealt with in a convenient chapter on "Les Aberrations." Conflicts of groups result in survivals or consolidations. Races are constantly absorbing elements from each other through "ondulations concentriques" of imitation. The measures of progress is found in the degree of liberty, security, and regularity of life which a society attains. Social evolution as a whole conforms to the law of the displacement of centers of culture from warm to colder regions. In proportion as this movement proceeds inventiveness develops, civilization becomes more pro-