Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/523

 THE SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY 507

sociologist defines his discipline for himself ; he sooner or later begins to betray his tacit conception of his mission by propound- ing judgments that leap over his own boundary. Their validity depends upon knowledge that belongs, in the first place, to each of the more special divisions of social science. It follows that, in spite of all disagreements about territory, sociology is in practice, as a matter of fact, an attempt to organize and general- ize all available knowledge about the influences that pervade human associations. The men who make the most restricted definitions of sociology often indulge in the most absolute gen- eralizations in the name of sociology, and they seem to take themselves quite seriously while they are thus placing the poverty of their logic upon exhibition.

The impulse to generalize social laws of higher orders than those to be derived from the traditional social sciences may be audacious. It may look to results which are beyond the reach of human reason. The ambition to develop a system of general- izations which will interpret the influences that form human society may be foredoomed to disappointment. The fact remains that the sociologists are in the midst of an adventure which means nothing less than discovery of the limits of human power to trace the workings of human association in all times and under all circumstances. As was said above, this turns out to be true about equally, though in different ways, of those who seek wisdom through a sociology defined as the science of an abstracted section of social facts, and of those who boldly describe sociology as a comprehensive science or philosophy.

To get our bearings, therefore, in today's sociology, it is necessary to survey the course of thought by which we have arrived at our present attitude toward the problems of society. We must review the forms under which the pioneers in sociology have presented the problems to themselves. These early attempts are instructive, not because they have contributed directly to the solution of sociological or social problems, but because they have led to more exact statement of the problems.

Judged by results, sociology up to date has comparatively little to say for itself. Before we are through we shall argue