Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/305

 REVIEWS 291

that kind of service ? (3) What is yet unknown about human associa- tions ? (4) What method is indicated for increasing knowledge of this unknown ? With the investigator the third and fourth questions are paramount. W T ith Giddings the first and second have been decisive.

It is far from my purpose to disparage the pedagogical interest, or to imply that it is beneath the consideration of scientific minds. I simply call attention to the fact that the pedagogical aim and method are quite distinct from the investigator's aim and method. It is not only permissible but commendable in a teacher to present to his stu- dents a syllabus of the most trustworthy conclusions which he can reach about the whole range of his- subject. It is right for the teacher, pro- vided that he at the same time properly marks the provisional and tentative character of his generalizations, to urge his pupils to accept that conspectus as a working hypothesis of the facts and their connec- tions, until they can reach independently a more satisfactory synthesis. But while such a syllabus, regarded as a medium between teacher and pupil, may be admirable, regarded as a communication from an inves- tigator to fellow investigators, it may become preposterous. A large part of the matter and manner of this book falls under this condemna- tion. I can find no excuse for these portions except that they are really intended not as serious scientific propositions, but as assumptions peda- gogicall v permissible pending further examination of evidence by investi- gators. The book asks for no such consideration, however. It boldly claims to have given sociology the formulation of principles with which it need no longer go astray. 1 We must accordingly judge the book as an exhibit of method and results supposed by the author to be scientifically sanctioned. Measured by this standard it is more than defective. Professor Giddings has done his share and will doubtless contribute his quota in the future toward the solution of problems both in practical pedagogy and in sociology. Nevertheless in failing to keep the two kinds of problem entirely distinct in this book he has beauti- fully befogged both. In asking primarily "What sort of doctrinecan we conveniently teach ? " he has seriously handicapped himself in approaching the real problem, viz., What do we need to find out about societary relations, and what method is competent to yield the knowl- edge ?

A second capital fault of Giddings' scheme is its admission of two essentially different conceptions of sociology. These reapjK'.u- in all

1 P. 17.