Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/558

 538 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGV

avoid such comparisons' — it calls attention, in the first place, to the already mentioned animosity toward sociology, and, secondly, it sug- gests how alien the individualistic knowledge of the acutest thinkers was only a short time ago to the real nature of social occurrences ; other- wise it must even at that time have struck the author of the above lines that 'societary systems' and ' individual interest ' have the rela- tion of cause and effect, and this results directly from biological occur- rences. Since the organism is morphologically developed through the innate interest of the germ, and since in this development of the nervous system conformably to its germ is pre-patterned also the psychical life of the creature, man moves in conformity to interest in the presence of the social world, and conducts himself in it in accord- ance with his germ capacities, and according as his innate interest and the interest later necessitated (acquired) through life-conditions pre- scribe for him. All life springs from the unsearchable primitive force ; the differentiation of this life follows through adaptations to life-conditions for creatures with an innate interest, which really comes to expression in the germ capacities. Without differentiating causes the cosmic world would remain an infinite extension of original matter and the organic world the repetition of homogeneous cells. Through the differentiating change of conditions of life physiological interest awakes with life, and individual interest with consciousness. These are but the differentiated individualization of the interest of the species. The physiological interest, which, confronting the various life-condi- tions, impels to varied organic evolution, forces also the individual to an adaptive behavior, whereby, however, he is brought into opposition with his fellow-creatures ; the adaptive behavior finds expression partly through natural selection, partly through the survival of the fit, partly through the change of location of those who have been disadvantaged — the opposition manifests itself in the struggle for existence. As long as only the interest of the species dominated, the social interest was the same to all. But as soon as individual interests arise, social interest also differentiates itself at once; for every individuality, be it a species under organisms or a community, has its special social interest. The differentiation of the organic world into different species is, strictly considered, a social differentitation of all creatures. In the social process of mankind, as well as of single animal species, this differenti- ation is continued upon the basis of different graded characteristics of the morphological and intellectual variety. And in this continuation of differentiation and of all development into the territory of intellec-