Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/557

 MOOT POINTS IN SOCIOL OGY 539

II. Constitutional.

3. The egotic.

4. The appetitive.

5. The affectional.

6. The recreative.

III. Cultural.

7. The aesthetic.

8. The ethical.

9. The religious. 10. The intellectual.

Without the "fundamental" forces this scheme would be excellent. It is surely an error, however, to list the desire for wealth among the original social forces. It is, in fact, clearly derivative. Avarice is so powerful because nearly every kind of craving sooner or later puts in a requisition for goods. The attractiveness of wealth is the sum of all the furtherances we receive from it in the pursuit of our ends. The state likewise is an instrument of many uses, and appeals to no one group of desires. The specific desires that operate in the sphere of gov- ernment the love of power and the impatience of restraint have other spheres of manifestation, and cannot properly be termed political. They are, in fact, egotic. For the rest, early government rests on fear fear of the enemy, fear of the marauder. After life and property have become secure, the state is utilized for the promotion of many cultural purposes, so that nearly every group of social forces gives off a demand for state activity.

Would it not be better to arrange the springs of action in two planes, instead of forcing them into one plane ? Desires may well be distinguished from interests, the former being the primary forces as they well up in consciousness, the latter the great complexes, woven of multicolored strands of desire, which shape society and make history.

Desires may be divided into natural and cultural, the former being present even in natural men, the latter emerging clearly only after man has made some gains in culture. The natural desires may be grouped into a) Appetitive. Hunger, thirst, and sex-appetite.