Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/822

 806 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

exploitation. This feature was not dwelt upon, as properly belonging to the present paper, but attention was called to the fact that so great a power directed into so delicate a field became a menace to society which would become intolerable if not antagonized by the same power wielded by the collective body of society itself. This is really the strongest reason for the existence of government, and it cannot be said to have grown less with the progress of civilization. In a certain way it has grown stronger, for with the increase of intelligence the inequal- ity in the degree to which the telic power is possessed by the individual members of society has greatly increased, and this has correspondingly augmented the ability of some to exploit others. Moreover, with this same advance in intellectual acu- men the methods have changed, and open warfare, even mental, has given way to the most subtle arts of deceiving the unwary and "making the worse appear the better reason," until the less favored members of society require to be not merely "wide awake" to their interests and perpetually on their guard, but they must be keen Analyzers of human motives and philosophic stu- dents of "human nature " if they would avoid being ensnared in the sophistries of the cunning leaders and makers of public opinion. The self-seeking class, which formerly feared govern- ment which they knew existed to foil their plans, is today striv- ing with Machiavellian diplomacy, and, it must be admitted, with considerable success, to enlist government itself in its service and thus to multiply its powers.

The individual teleology hitherto considered may be regarded as unconscious. The social benefits that it achieves are not thought of. They are as much accidental and unintended as are those that result from purely genetic or spontaneous activity. On the other hand, the social teleology now under consideration the action of the central body which society creates to look after its interests is conscious in the sense that, as a body, it always aims to benefit society, which is a conscious good. Most such action, it is true, involves very little exercise of the higher powers of mind. The decrees of a monarch are always for some