Study of Sociology - Herbert Spencer

8/12/2019 Study of Sociology - Herbert Spencer

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THE

STUDY

OF

SOCIOLOGY

BY

HERBERT

SPENCER

AUTHOR

OF

A

SYSTEM OF

PHILOSOPHY,

DESCRIPTIVE

SOCIOLOGY,

ETC.

NEW

YORK

D.

APPLETON

AND

COMPANY

1806


8/435

COPYRIGHT,

1873,

BY

D.

APPLETON

AND

COMPANY.


9/435

PKEFACE

TO

THE

AMERICAN

EDITION.

IT

is

desirable

that

the

present

volume,

the

origin

of

which is

explained

in the

author s

preface,

should

be

accom

panied

by

a

brief

statement

in

relation to

Mr.

Spencer

s

other works

upon

sociological

science. The

"

Principles

of

Sociology

"

was

projected

by

Mr.

Spencer

as a

part

of his

philosophical

system,

the

publication

of

which

was

com

menced

in

1860.

Five volumes

of

that

system

have

ap

peared,

viz.

:

"

First

Principles,"

in

one

volume

;

the

"

Principles

of

Biology,"

in

two

volumes

;

and

the

"

Prin

ciples

of

Psychology,"

in two volumes.

"

First

Principles

"

develops

the

general

method

of the

philosophy

to

be

carried

out

in

the

subsequent

works.

In

the

two

succeeding

parts

that method is

applied

to the

interpretation

of the

phenom

ena

of Life and

Mind,

the whole

course of

exposition

being

preparatory

to

the

"

Principles

of

Sociology,"

in

three

vol

umes,

which

are

next in

order.

Upon

this

work

Mr.

Spen

cer

has now

entered,

and

it

will

be

published

in

quarterly

parts,

by

subscription,

in the

same

form

that was

adopted

with

the

previous

divisions of

the

work.

Several

years

since

Mr.

Spencer

foresaw a

difficulty

that

would arise

in

working

out

the

principles

of social

science

from

a lack

of

the

data

or

facts

necessary

as

a

basis

of

rea

soning

upon

the

subject

;

and

he

saw

that,

before the

philos

ophy

could

be

elaborated,

these facts

must

be

systematically

and

exhaustively

collected.

How

early

and

how

clearly

Mr.

Spencer perceived

the

nature,

diversity,

and

extent

of the


10/435

IV

TEE

STUDY

OF

SOCIOLOGY.

facts

upon

which

a

true

social

science

must rest is

well,

shown

in

the

following passage

from a

review

article

pub

lished

in

1859,

1

before

he

had

commenced

his

great

under

taking

:

"

That

which

constitutes

history, properly

so

called,

is in

great

part

omitted

from

works on this

subject.

Only

of

late

years

have historians

commenced

giving

us,

in

any

considerable

quantity,

the

truly

valuable

information.

As

in

past

ages

the

king

was

every thing

and

the

people

nothing,

so,

in

past

histories,

the

doings

of the

king

fill the

entire

pict

ure,

to

which

the national

life

forms

but

an

obscure

background.

While

only

now,

when

the

welfare

of

nations

rather than of rulers is

becoming

the

dominant

idea,

are

historians

beginning

to

occupy

them

selves with

the

phenomena

of social

progress.

The

thing

it

really

con

cerns

us

to know

is,

the

natural

history

of

society.

We

want all

facts

which

help

us

to understand

how a nation has

grown

and

organized

itself.

Among

these,

let us

of

course

have an

account

of

its

govern

ment

;

with

as little as

may

be

of

gossip

about

the

men

who

officered

it,

and

as

much as

possible

about

the

structure, principles,

methods,

prejudices,

corruptions,

etc.,

which

it exhibited

;

and

let

this

account

include

not

only

the nature

and

actions

of

the

central

government,

but

also

those

of local

governments,

down

to

their

minutest

ramifications.

Let us of

course

also

have a

parallel

description

of

the

ecclesiastical

government

its

organization,

its

conduct,

its

power,

its

relations

to the

state

;

and,

accompanying

this,

the

ceremonial,

creed,

and

religious

ideas

not

only

those

nominally

believed,

but

those

really

believed

and acted

upon.

Let

us at

the same

time

be informed

of

the control

exercised

by

class over

class,

as

displayed

in social

observances

in

titles,

saluta

tions,

and

forms

of

address.

Let

us

know,

too,

what were

all the other

customs which

regulated

the

popular

life

out-of-doors

and

in-doors>

including

those

concerning

the

relations

of

the

sexes,

and

the

relations

of

parents

to

children.

The

superstitions,

also,

from

the

more

impor

tant

myths

down

to

the

charms in common

use,

should

be

indicated.

Next

should

come

a

delineation of the

industrial

system

:

showing

to

what

extent

the division of

labor

was carried

;

how

trades

were

regu

lated,

whether

by

caste,

guilds,

or

otherwise;

what

was the connection

between

employers

and

employed

;

what were the

agencies

for

dis

tributing

commodities

;

what

were

the

means of

communication

;

what

was

the

circulating

medium.

Accompanying

all

which

should be

given

an account

of the industrial

arts

technically

considered

:

stating

the

1

"

What

Knowledge

is

of

most Worth

?

"

(

Westminster

Iteview).


11/435

PREFACE

TO

THE

AMERICAN

EDITION.

v

processes

in

use,

and

the

quality

of

the

products.

Further,

the intel

lectual

condition of the nation

in its

various

grades

should

be

de

picted

;

not

only

with

respect

to the

kind

and amount

of

education,

but with

respect

to

the

progress

made

in

science,

and the

prevailing

manner

of

thinking.

The

degree

of aesthetic

culture,

as

displayed

in

architecture,

sculpture,

painting,

dress, music,

poetry,

and

fiction,

should be

described.

Nor

should

there

be

omitted

a

sketch

of

the

daily

lives of

the

people

their

food,

their

homes,

and

their

amuse

ments.

And,

lastly,

to

connect

the

whole,

should

be

exhibited

the

morals,

theoretical and

practical,

of

all

classes,

as

indicated in

their

laws,

habits,

proverbs,

deeds.

These

facts,

given

with

as

much

brevity

as

consists

with clearness and

accuracy,

should be so

grouped

and

ar

ranged

that

they may

be

comprehended

in

their

ensemble,

and

con

templated

as

mutually-dependent

parts

of

one

great

whole. The

aim

should

be so to

present

them

that

men

may

readily

trace the

consensus

subsisting

among

them,

with

the view

of

learning

what

social

phenom

ena

coexist with

what

others. And

then the

corresponding

delinea

tions

of

succeeding ages

should

be

so

managed

as

to

show how

each

be

lief,

institution,

custom,

and

arrangement,

was

modified,

and how

the

consensus

of

preceding

structures

and functions

was

developed

into

the

consensus

of

succeeding

ones. Such alone is the

kind

of

informa

tion,

respecting

past

times,

which

can

be of

service

to

the

citizen

for

the

regulation

of

his

conduct.

The

only

history

that is

of

practical

value

is,

what

may

be called

Descriptive

Sociology.

And

the

highest

office

which the

historian

can

discharge

is

that

of so

narrating

the

lives

of

nations

as to

furnish

materials

for

a

Comparative

Sociology,

and

for the

subsequent

determination

of

the

ultimate

laws to

which

social

phenomena

conform."

Such

were

the character

and

scope

of

the

facts which re

quired

to be

collected

concerning

all

forms

and

grades

of

human

societies

before

any

thing

like

a valid social

science

could

be

constructed.

A

descriptive

Sociology,

furnishing

comprehensive

data,

must

precede

the establishment

of

prin

ciples,

and

so

Mr.

Spencer

began

the

collection

of

his

mate

rials

five

years

ago.

He

first

devised a

system

of

tables

suited

to

present

all orders of social facts

displayed by

any

community

facts of

structure,

function,

and

development,

in such a manner

that

they

can be

compared

with

each

other

at

a

glance

each

table

being

a

kind

of

chart

of

the

social


12/435

vi

THE

STUDY

OF

SOCIOLOGY.

condition

of

the

community

to which

it

is devoted.

His

ob

ject

was at

first

solely

to

facilitate

his

own

work,

but it soon

appeared

that

the

results

would

be

of

great general

impor

tance,

and

Mr.

Spencer

decided

to execute the

undertaking

with

a view

to

publication.

The communities

of

mankind

were

divided into three

great

groups

: 1.

Uncivilized Socie

ties

;

2.

Civilized

Societies,

Extinct or

Decayed

;

3.

Civilized

Societies,

Eecent

or

still

Flourishing. Having

arranged

his

plan,

Mr.

Spencer

engaged

three

educated

gentlemen

to de

vote

themselves

to

the

systematic

collection

of

the various

orders of facts

pertaining

to

these three

groups

of

societies.

In

each

case,

the

tables are

filled

in

with

the facts

under

their

appropriate

heads,

while extracts are

separately

given

from

the authorities consulted. The

description

of the

Un

civilized

Societies,

by

Prof. David

Duncan,

embracing

sev

enty

tables,

is

substantially

completed.

Of

the second divi

sion,

in

charge

of Dr.

Richard

Scheppig,

the

first

installment,

including

the

four

ancient American

civilizations,

is

nearly

finished. The

third

division,

dealing

with civilized

socie

ties,

under

charge

of Mr.

James

Collier,

of

St.

Andrew s and

Edinburgh

Universities,

is

well

advanced,

and the

first

part,

treating

of

the

English

civilization,

or

the

Sociological

His

tory

of

England,

is

now

published.

It

covers seven

con

secutive

tables,

and

the

verifying

extracts

occupy

seventy

pages

folio.

This

series

of

works,

which

will

be

published

as

they

are

completed,

will

form

a

regular

Cyclopaedia

of

Descriptive

Sociology,

and,

as

the

facts

are

given

independently

of

the

ory,

they

will

have

value

for

all

students

of

social

phenom

ena.

Of

the

execution

and

influence

of

this

work,

the

Brit

ish

Quarterly

Review well

observes

:

"

No

words

are

needed

to

indicate

the

immense

labor

here

bestowed,

or

the

great

sociological

benefit

which

such

a

mass

of

tabulated

matter

done under

such

competent

direction

will

confer.

The

work

will

constitute an

epoch

in

the

science of

comparative

sociology."


13/435

PREFACE

TO

THE

AMERICAN

EDITION.

v

ii

It will be understood

that

these works

do

not

form

a

part

of

Mr.

Spencer

s

Philosophical System,

but

a

separate

preparation

for

the

third

division

of

it.

Mr. Spencer

will

use his extensive

materials

in

establishing

the

inductions

of

the science

which will

be

presented

in

the successive

parts

of

the

"

Principles

of

Sociology."

E. L.

Y.


14/435


15/435

PREFACE.

THIS

little

work

has

been

written

at

the

instigation

of

my

American

friend,

Professor

Youmans.

When,

some

two

years

ago,

he

was

in

England making

arrangements

for

that

International

Scientific

Series

which

he

origi

nated and succeeded

in

organizing,

he

urged

me

to

contribute

to it a

volume on the

Study

of

Sociology.

Feeling

that

the

general undertaking

in

which

I

am

engaged,

is

extensive

enough

to

demand

all

my

energies,

I

continued

for

a

long

time to

resist

;

and

I

finally

yielded

only

to

the

modified

proposal

that

I

should

furnish

the

ideas and

materials,

and

leave the embodiment

of

them to

some

fit collaborates.

As

might

have been

expected,

it

was

difficult

to

find

one

in

all

respects

suitable; and,

eventually,

I undertook

the

task

myself.

After thus

committing

myself,

it

occurred

to me as de

sirable

that,

instead

of

writing

the volume

simply

for

the

International

Scientific

Series,

I should

prepare

it

for

pre

vious issue

in

a

serial

form,

both

here

and in

the United

States. In

pursuance

of

this

idea,

arrangements

were

made

with

the

Contemporary

Review to

publish

the suc

cessive

chapters

;

and

in

America

they

have

been

simul

taneously published

in the

Popular

Science

Monthly.

Beginning

in

May,

1872,

this

publication

by

instalments


16/435

x

THE

STUDY

OF SOCIOLOGY.

has,

with

two

brief

intervals,

since

continued,

and

will

be

completed

on

the

1st

October

next

:

the

issue of

this

volume

being

delayed

until

after

that

date.

Since

commencing

the

work,

I

have

not

regretted

that

I

was

led

to

undertake

it.

Various

considerations

which

seemed

needful

by way

of introduction

to

the

Principles

of

Sociology,

presently

to be

written,

and

which

yet

could

not be

conveniently

included

in

it,

have

found,

in

this

preliminary

volume,

a

fit

place.

Much

illustrative

mate

rial

also,

partly

accumulated

during past years

and

lying

unused,

I

have

thus

gained

an

occasion

for

turning

to

account.

Further,

the

opportunity

has

been

afforded

me

of

commenting

on

special

topics

which the

Principles

of

Sociology

could not

properly

recognize

;

and of

comment

ing

on

them

in

a

style

inadmissible

in

a

purely-philo

sophical

treatise

a

style

adapted,

however,

as

I

hope,

to

create

such

interest

in

the

subject

as

may

excite

to

serious

pursuit

of

it.

In

preparing

the

successive

chapters

for

final

publica

tion,

I

have,

besides carefully revising

them,

here

and

there enforced

the

argument by

a

further

illustration.

Not

much,

however,

has

been

done in

this

way

:

the

only

additions

of

moment

being

contained

in the

Appen

dix.

One of

these,

pursuing

in

another

direction

the

argument

concerning

academic

discipline,

will

be found

among

the

notes

to

Chapter

IX.

;

and

another,

illus

trative

of

the

irrelation

between

intellectual

culture

and moral

feeling,

will

be found in

the

notes

to

Chap

ter

XV.

LONDON,

July,

1873.


17/435

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

PAGE

I.

OUR

NEED OF

IT

1

II.

Is

THERE

A SOCIAL

SCIENCE?

22

Documents

Study of Sociology - Herbert Spencer