THE FOUNDERS OF SOCIOLOGY. 1
IN speaking of " The Founders of Sociology " one runs the risk of being taken for a seeker after treasure that does not exist. Some people assure us that sociology is scientifically a mere chimera a toy for the dotage of the man of science. M. Block, a more than usually philosophical economist, compiled a Diction- ary of Economic and Social Science. Under the rubric, " Soci- ology," he inserted an article which began thus : " Does there exist a social science? One must answer squarely, No." Others assert there is an indefinite number of sociologies as many men, so many sociologists. It is certainly not an easy matter to con- ceive even the possibility of combining into one integral study all available knowledge of man and of society. It may help us to realize the difficulty of getting hold of a great abstract idea like that of a general scheme of sociology, if we recall an incident of one of Captain Cook's voyages. He had touched at the island which afterward became known as New Guinea (or was it New Caledonia?). He tried to find out from the inhabitants what was the native name of the island. But in whatever part of the island he questioned the inhabitants he found that they could give him the name of their own district only. It had not occurred to any of them that a name was required for the whole island. They had not risen to this generality of conception. They were specialists in district geography. They had not been able to conceive a gen- eral geography of the island.
In respect of his dubious scientific status, the sociologist resembles his not remote kinsman, the theologian. And of theologians we have been told (the saying is attributed to Pro- fessor Flint) that there are two kinds: there are the theologians who have had religious experience, and there are the theologians who have read the works of other theologians. We cannot, how- ever, apply this principle to the classification of sociologists. For we have all had social experience even those who write
'Lecture to a sociological debating club in London, October 21, 1903.
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