Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/365

SOCIOLOGY. 311 SOCIOLOGY. into concerted volition, the total resemblance thus established may be called like-mindedness. According as instinctive, s}^npathetic, dogmatic, or critical elements predominate does concerted volition vary in character from an almost in- stinctive action up through impulsive and con- tagious action to formal or fanatical action and ultimately to deliberative action. Like-minded- ness, as a whole, may therefore be described as instinctive, sympathetic, dogmatic, or delibera- tive. Instinctive like-mindedness is found only in those ignorant populations in which the ideo- motor type of mind predominates. Sjnnpathetic like-mindedness. widely prevalent in all nations, is characterized by im])ulsiveness, suggestibility, susceptibility to the stimuli of emblem and shib- boleth, imitativeness, and contagious emotion. Association in crowds is higlily favorable to its genesis. Among the chief forms that .sympathetic like-mindedness assumes are revivals, panics, sviupatiictic strikes, riots, and insurrections. Dogmatic like-mindedness is marked by dog- matically held belief, deference to authority, and fanatical action. It finds expression in zealous agitations, strong partisanship, and reliance on governmental power to regulate private conduct. Deliberative like-mindedness is characterized by inductive research, discussion, freedom of speech and of meeting, and rational action. It substi- tutes evidence for irrational modes of proof, and it is creative of the highest institutional activi- ties. The chief social bonds vary according to the situation, size, and composition of the popula- tion, its degree of mental and moral homo- geneity, and the dominant stimuli of its activi- ties. In small and comparatively isolated popu- lations, ethnically and mentally homogeneous, there is a strong consciousness of kind, and the conmnmity is held together largely by acts of imitation and kindness. In the small and hetero- geneous community, as a mining camp, for ex- ample, where men, strangers to one another at first, congregate in the pursuit of economic well- being, the sympathetic elements of the conscious- ness of kind, and imitation, are relatively unim- portant factors. Conflict, sharp and decisive, between man and man, brings about a general condition of toleration and spontaneous justice, gradually supplemented by good will and help- fulness. In such a community there is always, spontaneous allegiance to daring leadership and it becomes a social bond of great strength. Con- tagious emotion also is often a bond supplement- ing the others. In a compound population, so made by invasion and conquest, the bond that ties the social system is the power of the conquerors and the submis- sion and obedience of the conquered. The perma- nence of this bond depends upon that physiograph- ic concentration and practical cohesion of the con- querors which insures the maintenance of their sovereignty. If the character of the country and the stimuli of economic opportunity and of oppor- tunity for adventure are such that the invaders become dispersed, various personal efforts to establish sovereignty result in the creation of those untrustworthy bonds of intrigue and con- spiracy which are made to appear of universal importance in the chapters of Machiavelli's Prince, and generally in the records of turbulent times. With the establishment of equilibrium through conflict, which eliminates excessively mil ike and unequal elements fiom the popula- tion, conspiracy gives jilace to relations of con- tract, which tlu'nccforward remains an important, or even the cliicf, social bond. Finally, in a compUiX population of highly dilTcrcntiated ele- ments which arc unilcrgoing assimilation, and which are already mentally alike in the impor- tant respect that they cherish common ideals, especially ideals of liberty and enlightenment, the chief social bonds may come to consist in fidelity, honesty, and social service. Thus it appears from descriptive sociology that many of the theories of the origin and nature of society which ajipeared in political philosophy from the days of Aquinas and Dante down to those of Rousseau were within limits true. The sympathy or fellowship theories of the early Christian writers are true of small homogeneous conununitics. The natural justice theories of the early legal writers are true of small hetero- geneous communities. The sovereignty theories which found full expression in the writings of Bodin are true of the compound communities formed by invasion and conquest. The intrigue and conspiracy theories of MachiavelH are true of compound populations which have been reduced to disorder by the disintegrating influence of chronic conflict. Society in this condition is the 'state of nature' of Hobbes, while the state of nature of Locke and Hooker exists when the ele- ments of the population are sufficiently alike to live in toleration, if not in sTOipathy. Given conditions of toleration and natural justice, the creation of a higher social order through good understanding and contract mav always be looked for. (.3) The Hocinl Organization. — The social or- ganization is the outcome of two conditions, namely (1) permanent relations of domicile and cooperation, and (2) the approval and sanction of such relations by the general will. Social organization is therefore an expression of like- mindedness in the population. Peculiarities in its development are partly accounted for by the passion of like-minded people to make the com- munity more and more homogeneous in mental and moral qualities, and partly by a growing ap- preciation of the value of unlike-mindedness as a means of variation and progress. The forms of organization are (1) the private and the public, (2) the authorized and the un- authorized. (.3) the unincorporated and the in- corporated, (4) the component, and (.5) the con- stituent. Authorized forms are institutions, and an institution may be defined as a social relation that is consciously permitted or established by adequate and rightful authority, that is, in the last resoi't, by sovereignty. The social composi- tion is that grouping of individuals by dwelling place which makes up the series of component societies named below. A chief characteristic of the social composition is the commingling in each group of both sexes and all ages, and the consequent ability of each component society to perpetuate itself and live an independent life if it were cut off from all the rest of the world. Component societies are of two great types, the ethnic or tribal, and the civil or demotic. Ethnic societies are almost purely genetic aggregations. A real or fictitious blood relationship is their chief social bond. Civil societies are partly ge- netic, but also largely congregate associations.