Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/407

Rh aims, from his point of view, to think the whole human race as a complex unity. He is striving to make more clear his perception of an entity, infinitely complex, in which he sees manifest certain causal relations, upon the further investigation of which he seeks, and believes it possible to discover, the underlying principles which operate over the whole plane of associated activity.

The forces that produce motion in social groups are the sum of the wants and desires of human beings. Let us accept the classification of them into (a) health, (b) wealth, (c) sociability, (d) knowledge, (e) beauty, (f) righteousness, and signify them by the letters a, b, c, d, e, f. Now, these operate in varying proportion in every individual, and take different forms in different groups in various parts of the world during successive ages. But gradually, everywhere and always, the ways of gratifying them become customary and grow into corresponding social institutions. Thus, for example, it will readily be seen how from desires for wealth have grown up what were at first only conventional ways of gratification and have since become our various economic institutions, which are now obligatory ways of satisfying the wealth desire. (Of course—especially true in the example just cited—the direction is always primarily determined by the physical environment, but, considering the latter constant for the time given, we confine our attention rather to the psychic elements.) These institutions, then, must also be submitted to classification. We accept as the most comprehensive and inclusive grouping yet made De Greef's schedule of social phenomena. They fall into seven principal groups: (G) economic, (H) genetic, (I) artistic, (J) scientific, (K) moral, (L) judicial, (M) political, to be designated respectively by the letters G, H, I, J, K, L, M.

"We have now for our problem [quoting Small] the discovery of the general laws of interrelation between the individual elements in society, represented in terms of desire by the product a b c d e f, and the institutional element, represented by G H I J K L M. … This discovery must be made by investigation of such reactions, both in selected eras, prehistoric, ancient, modern, or contemporary, and in successive civilizations, that is, it must be both static and dynamic. … This knowledge of the relation of individuals to institutions is a scientific desideratum;" and is to be attained only by scientific methods of investigation.