chapter iii
, "Society and the Group,"[170] will be of service in a further study of the application of the concept of social forces to the study of the community.
2. Social Forces and History
Historians, particularly in recent years, have frequently used the expression "social forces" although they have nowhere defined it. Kuno Francke, in the Preface of his book entitled _A History of German Literature as Determined by Social Forces_, states that it "is an honest attempt to analyze the social, religious, and moral forces which determined the growth of German literature as a whole." Taine in the Preface to _The Ancient Régime_ says: "Without taking any side, curiosity becomes scientific and centres on the secret forces which direct the wonderful process. These forces consist of the situations, the passions, the ideas, and the wills of each group of actors, and which can be defined and almost measured."[171]
It is in the writings of historians, like Taine in France, Buckle in England, and Karl Lamprecht in Germany, who started out with the deliberate intention of writing history as if it were natural history, that we find the first serious attempts to use the concept of social forces in historical analysis. Writers of this school are quite as much interested in the historical process as they are in historical fact, and there is a constant striving to treat the individual as representative of the class, and to define historical tendencies in general and abstract terms.
But history conceived in those terms tends to become sociology. "History," says Lamprecht, "is a _socio-psychological science_. In the conflict between the old and the new tendencies in historical investigation, the main question has to do with social-psychic, as compared and contrasted with individual-psychic factors; or to speak somewhat generally, the understanding on the one hand of conditions, on the other of heroes, as the motive powers in the course of history."[172] It was Carlyle--whose conception of history is farthest removed from that of Lamprecht--who said, "Universal history is at bottom the history of great men."
The criticism of history by historians and the attempts, never quite successful, to make history positive furnish further interesting comment on this topic.[173]
3. Interest, Sentiments, and Attitudes as Social Forces
More had been written, first and last, about human motives than any other aspect of human life. Only in very recent years, however, have psychologists and social psychologists had either a point of view or methods of investigation which enabled them to analyze and explain the facts. The tendency of the older introspective psychology was to refer in general terms to the motor tendencies and the will, but in the analysis of sensation and the intellectual processes, will disappeared.
The literature on this subject covers all that has been written by the students of animal behavior and instinct, Lloyd Morgan, Thorndike, Watson, and Loeb. It includes the interesting studies of human behavior by Bechterew, Pavlow, and the so-called objective school of psychology in Russia. It should include likewise writers like Graham Wallas in England, Carleton Parker and Ordway Tead in America, who are seeking to apply the new science of human nature to the problems of society.[174]
Every social science has been based upon some theory, implicit or explicit, of human motives. Economics, political science, and ethics, before any systematic attempt had been made to study the matter empirically, had formulated theories of human nature to justify their presuppositions and procedures.
In classical political economy the single motive of human action was embodied in the abstraction "the economic man." The utilitarian school of ethics reduced all human motives to self-interest. Disinterested conduct was explained as enlightened self-interest. This theory was criticized as reducing the person to "an intellectual calculating machine." The theory of evolution suggested to Herbert Spencer a new interpretation of human motives which reasserted their individualistic origin, but explained altruistic sentiments as the slowly accumulated products of evolution. Altruism to Spencer was the enlightened self-interest of the race.
It was the English economists of the eighteenth century who gave us the first systematic account of modern society in deterministic terms. The conception of society implicit in Adam Smith's _Wealth of Nations_ reflects at once the temper of the English people and of the age in which he lived.[175] The eighteenth century was the age of individualism, laissez faire and freedom. Everything was in process of emancipation except woman.
The attention of economists at this time was directed to that region of social life in which the behavior of the individual is most individualistic and least controlled, namely, the market place. The economic man, as the classical economists conceived him, is more completely embodied in the trader in the auction pit, than in any other figure in any other situation in society. And the trader in that position performs a very important social function.[176]
There are, however, other social situations which have created other social types, and the sociologists have, from the very first, directed their attention to a very different aspect of social life, namely, its unity and solidarity. Comte conceived humanity in terms of the family, and most sociologists have been disposed to take the family as representative of the type of relations they are willing to call social. Not the auction pit but the family has been the basis of the sociological conception of society. Not competition but control has been the central fact and problem of sociology.
Socialization, when that word is used as a term of appreciation rather than of description, sets up as the goal of social effort a world in which conflict, competition, and the externality of individuals, if they do not disappear altogether, will be so diminished that all men may live together as members of one family. This, also, is the goal of progress according to our present major prophet, H. G. Wells.[177]
It is intelligible, therefore, that sociologists should conceive of social forces in other terms than self-interest. If there had been no other human motives than those attributed to the economic man there would have been economics but no sociology, at least in the sense in which we conceive it today.
In the writings of Ratzenhofer and Small human interests are postulated as both the unconscious motives and the conscious ends of behavior. Small's classification of interests--health, wealth, sociability, knowledge, beauty, rightness--has secured general acceptance.
"Sentiment" was used by French writers, Ribot, Binet, and others, as a general term for the entire field of affective life. A. F. Shand in two articles in _Mind_, "Character and the Emotions" and "Ribot's Theory of the Passions," has made a distinct contribution by distinguishing the sentiments from the emotions. Shand pointed out that the sentiment, as a product of social experience, is an organization of emotions around the idea of an object. McDougall in his _Social Psychology_ adopted Shand's definition and described the organization of typical sentiments, as love and hate.
Thomas was the first to make fruitful use of the term attitude, which he defined as a "tendency to act." Incidentally he points out that attitudes are social, that is, the product of interaction.
4. Wishes and Social Forces
Ward had stated that "The social forces are wants seeking satisfaction through efforts, and are thus social motives or motors inspiring
## activities which either create social structures through social synergy
or modify the structures already created through innovation and conation."[178] Elsewhere Ward says that "desire is the only motive to
## action."[179]
The psychoanalytic school of psychiatrists have attempted to reduce all motives to one--the wish, or _libido_. Freud conceived that sex appetite and memories connected with it were the unconscious sources of some if not all of the significant forms of human behavior. Freud's interpretation of sex, however, seemed to include the whole field of desires that have their origin in touch stimulations. To Jung the _libido_ is vital energy motivating the life-adjustments of the person. Adler from his study of organic inferiority interpreted the _libido_ as the wish for completeness or perfection. Curiously enough, these critics of Freud, while not accepting his interpretation of the unconscious wish, still seek to reduce all motives to a single unit. To explain all behavior by one formula, however, is to explain nothing.
On the other hand, interpretation by a multitude of unrelated conscious desires in the fashion of the older sociological literature is no great advance beyond the findings of common sense. The distinctive value of the definition, and classification, of Thomas lies in the fact that it reduces the multitude of desires to four. These four wishes, however, determine the simplest as well as the most complex behavior of persons. The use made of this method in his study of the Polish peasant indicated its possibilities for the analysis of the organization of the life of persons and of social groups.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. POPULAR NOTION OF SOCIAL FORCES
(1) Patten, Simon N. _The Theory of Social Forces._ Philadelphia, 1896.
(2) Gladden, Washington. _Social Facts and Forces._ The factory, the labor union, the corporation, the railway, the city, the church. New York, 1897.
(3) Richmond, Mary. "Charitable Co-operation," _Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction_, 1901, pp. 298-313. (Contains "Diagram of Forces with which Charity Worker may Co-operate.")
(4) Devine, Edward T. _Social Forces._ From the editor's page of _The Survey_. New York, 1910.
(5) Edie, Lionel D., Editor. _Current Social and Industrial Forces._ Introduction by James Harvey Robinson. New York, 1920.
(6) Burns, Allen T. "Organization of Community Forces for the Promotion of Social Programs," _Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction_, 1916, pp. 62-78.
(7) _Social Forces._ A topical outline with bibliography. Wisconsin Woman's Suffrage Association, Educational Committee. Madison, Wis., 1915.
(8) Wells, H. G. _Social Forces in England and America._ London and New York, 1914.
II. HISTORICAL TENDENCIES AS SOCIAL FORCES
(1) Lamprecht, Karl. _What Is History?_ Five lectures on the modern science of history. Translated from the German by E. A. Andrews. London and New York, 1905.
(2) Loria, A. _The Economic Foundations of Society._ Translated from the 2d French ed. by L. M. Keasbey. London and New York, 1899.
(3) Beard, Charles A. _An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States._ New York, 1913.
(4) Brandes, Georg. _Main Currents in Nineteenth-Century Literature._ 6 vols. London, 1906.
(5) Taine, H. A. _The Ancient Régime._ Translated from the French by John Durand. New York, 1891.
(6) Buckle, Henry Thomas. _History of Civilization in England._ 2 vols. New York, 1892.
(7) Lacombe, Paul. _De l'histoire considérée comme science._ Paris, 1894.
(8) Francke, Kuno. _Social Forces in German Literature._ A study in the history of civilization. New York, 1896.
(9) Hart, A. B. _Social and Economic Forces in American History._ From _The American Nation, A History_. London and New York, 1904.
(10) Turner, Frederick J. _Social Forces in American History, The American Historical Review_, XVI (1910-11), 217-33.
(11) Woods, F. A. _The Influence of Monarchs._ Steps in a new science of history. New York, 1913.
III. INTERESTS AND WANTS
A. _Interests, Desires, and Wants as Defined by the Sociologist_
(1) Ward, Lester F. _Dynamic Sociology, or Applied Social Science._ As based upon statical sociology and the less complex sciences. "The Social Forces," I, 468-699. New York, 1883.
(2) ----. _Pure Sociology._ A treatise on the origin and spontaneous development of society. Chap. xii, "Classification of the Social Forces," pp. 256-65. New York, 1903.
(3) ----. _The Psychic Factors of Civilization._ Chap. ix, "The Philosophy of Desire," pp. 50-58, chap. xviii, "The Social Forces," pp. 116-24. Boston, 1901.
(4) Small, Albion W. _General Sociology._ Chaps. xxvii and xxxi, pp. 372-94; 425-42. Chicago, 1905.
(5) Ross, Edward A. _The Principles of Sociology._ Part II, "Social Forces," pp. 41-73. New York, 1920.
(6) Blackmar, F. W., and Gillin, J. L. _Outlines of Sociology._ Part III, chap ii, "Social Forces," pp. 283-315. New York, 1915.
(7) Hayes, Edward C. "The 'Social Forces' Error," _American Journal of Sociology_, XVI (1910-11), 613-25; 636-44.
(8) Fouillée, Alfred. _Education from a National Standpoint._ Translated from the French by W. J. Greenstreet. Chap. i, pp. 10-27. New York, 1892.
(9) ----. _Morale des idées-forces._ 2d ed. Paris, 1908. [Book II, Part II, chap. iii, pp. 290-311, describes opinion, custom, law, education from the point of view of "Idea-Forces."]
B. _Interests and Wants as Defined by the Economist_
(1) Hermann, F. B. W. v. _Staatswirthschaftliche Untersuchungen._ Chap. ii. München, 1870. [First of the modern attempts to classify wants.]
(2) Walker, F. A. _Political Economy._ 3d ed. New York, 1888. [See discussion of competition, pp. 91-111.]
(3) Marshall, Alfred. _Principles of Economics._ An introductory volume. Chap. ii, "Wants in Relation to Activities," pp. 86-91. 6th ed. London, 1910.
(4) ----. "Some Aspects of Competition," _Journal of the Royal Statistical Society._ Sec. VII, "Modern Analysis of the Motives of Business Competition," LIII (1890), 634-37. [See also Sec. VIII, "Growing Importance of Public Opinion as an Economic Force," pp. 637-41.]
(5) Menger, Karl. _Grundsatze der Volkswirthschaftslehre._ Chap. ii, Wien, 1871.
(6) ----. _Untersuchungen über die Methode der Socialwissenschaften und der politischen Ökonomie insbesondere._ Chap. vii, "Über das Dogma," etc. Leipzig, 1883.
(7) Jevons, W. S. _The Theory of Political Economy._ Chap. ii, "Theory of Pleasure and Pain," pp. 28-36; "The Laws of Human Wants," pp. 39-43. 4th ed. London, 1911.
(8) Bentham, Jeremy. "A Table of the Springs of Action." Showing the several species of pleasures and pains of which man's nature is susceptible; together with the several species of _interests_, _desires_ and _motives_ respectively corresponding to them; and the several sets of appellatives, _neutral_, _eulogistic_, and _dyslogistic_, by which each species of _motive_ is wont to be designated. [First published in 1817.] _The Works of Jeremy Bentham_, I, 195-219. London, 1843.
C. _Wants and Values_
(1) Kreibig, Josef K. _Psychologische Grundlegung eines Systems der Wert-Theorie._ Wien, 1902.
(2) Simmel, Georg. _Einleitung in die Moralwissenschaft._ Eine Kritik der ethischen Grundbegriffe. Vol. I, chap. iv, "Die Glückseligkeit." 2 vols. Berlin, 1904-05.
(3) Meinong, Alexius. _Psychologische-ethische Untersuchungen zur Wert-Theorie._ Graz, 1894.
(4) Ehrenfels, Chrn. v. _System der Wert-Theorie._ 2 vols. Leipzig, 1897-98.
(5) Brentano, Franz. _Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkte._ Chap. vi-ix, pp. 256-350. Leipzig, 1874.
(6) Urban, Wilbur Marshall. _Valuation, Its Nature and Laws._ Being an introduction to the general theory of value. London, 1909.
(7) Cooley, Charles H. _Social Process._ Part VI, "Valuation," pp. 283-348. New York, 1918.
IV. SENTIMENTS, ATTITUDES, AND WISHES
(1) White, W. A. _Mechanisms of Character Formation._ An introduction to psychoanalysis. New York, 1916.
(2) Pfister, Oskar. _The Psychoanalytic Method._ Translated from the German by Dr. C.R. Payne. New York, 1917.
(3) Jung, Carl G. _Analytical Psychology._ Translated from the German by Dr. Constance E. Long. New York, 1916.
(4) Adler, Alfred. _The Neurotic Constitution._ Outlines of a comparative individualistic psychology and psychotherapy. Translated from the German by Bernard Glueck. New York, 1917.
(5) Freud, Sigmund. _General Introduction to Psychoanalysis._ New York, 1920.
(6) Tridon, André. _Psychoanalysis and Behavior._ New York, 1920.
(7) Holt, Edwin B. _The Freudian Wish and Its Place in Ethics._ New York, 1915.
(8) Mercier, C.A. _Conduct and Its Disorders Biologically Considered._ London, 1911.
(9) Bechterew, W. v. _La psychologie objective._ Translated from the Russian. Paris, 1913.
(10) Kostyleff, N. _Le mécanisme cérébral de la pensée._ Paris, 1914.
(11) Bentley, A. F. _The Process of Government._ A study of social pressures. Chicago, 1908.
(12) Veblen, T. _The Theory of the Leisure Class._ An economic study in the evolution of institutions. New York, 1899. [Discusses the wish for recognition.]
(13) ----. _The Instinct of Workmanship._ And the state of the industrial arts. New York, 1914. [Discusses the wish for recognition.]
(14) McDougall, William. _An Introduction to Social Psychology._ Chaps. v-vi, pp. 121-73. 13th ed. Boston, 1918.
(15) Shand, A. F. "Character and the Emotions," _Mind._, n. s., V (1896), 203-26.
(16) ----. "M. Ribot's Theory of the Passions," _Mind._, n. s., XVI (1907), 477-505.
(17) ----. _The Foundations of Character._ Being a study of the tendencies of the emotions and sentiments. Chaps. iv-v, "The Systems of the Sentiments," pp. 35-63. London, 1914.
(18) Thomas, W. I., and Znaniecki, F. _The Polish Peasant in Europe and America._ III, 5-81. Boston, 1919.
TOPICS FOR WRITTEN THEMES
1. The Concept of Forces in the Natural Sciences.
2. Historical Interpretation and Social Forces.
3. The Concept of Social Forces in Recent Studies of the Local Community.
4. Institutions as Social Forces: The Church, the Press, the School, etc.
5. Institutions as Organizations of Social Forces: Analysis of a Typical Institution, Its Organization, Dominant Personalities, etc.
6. Persons as Social Forces: Analysis of the Motives determining the Behavior of a Dominant Personality in a Typical Social Group.
7. Group Opinion as a Social Force.
8. Tendencies, Trends, and the Spirit of the Age.
9. History of the Concepts of Attitudes, Sentiments, and Wishes as Defined in Psychology, Psychoanalysis, and Sociology.
10. Attitudes as the Organizations of Wishes.
11. The Freudian Wish.
12. Personal and Social Disorganization from the Standpoint of the Four Wishes.
13. The Law of the Four Wishes: All the Wishes Must Be Realized. A Wish of One Type, Recognition, Is Not a Substitute for a Wish of Another Type, Response.
14. The Dominant Wish: Its Rôle in the Organization of the Person and of the Group.
15. Typical Attitudes: Familism, Individualism, "Oppressed Nationality Psychosis," Race Prejudice.
16. The Mutability of the Sentiment-Attitude: Love and Hate, Self-esteem and Humility, etc.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Make a list of the outstanding social forces affecting social life in a community which you know. What is the value of such an analysis?
2. How does Simons use the term "social forces" in analyzing the course of events in American history?
3. In what sense do you understand Ely to use the term "social forces"?
4. Would there be, in your opinion, a social tendency without conflict with other tendencies?
5. How far is it correct to predict from present tendencies what the future will be?
6. What do you understand by _Zeitgeist_, "trend of the times," "spirit of the age"?
7. What do you understand by public opinion? How does it originate?
8. Is legislation in the United States always a result of public opinion?
9. Does the trend of public opinion determine corporate action?
10. Is public opinion the same as the sum of the opinion of the members of the group?
11. What is the relation of social forces to interaction?
12. Is it possible to study trends, tendencies, and public opinion as integrations of interests, sentiments, and attitudes?
13. Are desires the fundamental "social elements"?
14. What do you understand Small to mean when he says, "The last elements to which we can reduce the actions of human beings are units which we may conveniently name 'interests'"?
15. What is Small's classification of interests? Do you regard it as satisfactory?
16. What do you think is the difference between an impulse and an interest?
17. Do people behave according to their interests or their impulses?
18. Make a chart showing the difference in interests of six persons with whom you are acquainted.
19. Make a chart indicating the variations in interests of six selected groups.
20. What difference is there, in your opinion, between interests and social pressures?
21. Do you consider the following statement of Bentley's correct: "No slaves, not the worst abused of all, but help to form the government"?
22. Does the group exert social pressure upon its members? Give illustrations.
23. What do you understand to be the differences between an idea and an idea-force?
24. Give illustrations of idea-forces.
25. Are there any ideas that are not idea-forces?
26. What do you understand by a sentiment?
27. What is the difference between an interest and a sentiment? Give an illustration of each.
28. Are sentiments or interests more powerful in influencing the behavior of a person or of a group?
29. What do you understand by a social attitude?
30. What is a mental conflict?
31. To what extent does unconsciousness rather than consciousness determine the behavior of a person? Give an illustration where the behavior of a person was inconsistent with his rational determination.
32. What do you understand by mental complexes?
33. What is the relation of memory to mental complexes?
34. What do you understand by personality? What is its relation to mental complexes?
35. What is meant by common sense?
36. How does Holt define the Freudian wish?
37. What distinction does he make between the wish and the motor attitude?
38. How would you illustrate the difference between an attitude and a wish as defined in the introduction?
39. How far would you say that the attitude may be described as an organization of the wishes?
40. How far is the analogy between the wish as the social atom and the attitude as the social element justified?
41 What is the "psychic censor"?
42. What is the Freudian theory of repression? Is repression conscious or unconscious?
43. What is the relation of wishes to occupational selection?
44. Give illustrations of the "four wishes."
45. Describe a person in terms of the type of expression of these four wishes.
46. What social problems arise because of the repression of certain wishes?
47. "Wishes in one class cannot be substituted for wishes in another." Do you agree? Elaborate your position.
48. Analyze the organization of a group from the standpoint of the four wishes.
FOOTNOTES:
[157] Adapted from A. M. Simons, in the Preface to _Social Forces in American History_, pp. vii-viii. (Published by The Macmillan Co., 1912. Reprinted by permission.)
[158] Adapted from Richard T. Ely, _Evolution of Industrial Society_, pp. 456-84. (Published by The Macmillan Co., 1903. Reprinted by permission.)
[159] Adapted from A. V. Dicey, _Law and Public Opinion in England_, pp. 19-41. (Published by The Macmillan Co., 1905. Reprinted by permission.)
[160] Adapted from Albion W. Small, _General Sociology_, pp. 532-36. (The University of Chicago Press, 1905.)
[161] Adapted from Albion W. Small, _General Sociology_, pp. 425-36. (The University of Chicago Press, 1905.)
[162] Adapted from Arthur F. Bentley, _The Process of Government_, pp. 258-381. (The University of Chicago Press, 1908.)
[163] Adapted from Alfred Fouillée, _Education from a National Standpoint_, pp. 10-16. (D. Appleton & Co., 1897.)
[164] Adapted from William McDougall, _An Introduction to Social Psychology_, pp. 121-64. (John W. Luce & Co., 1916.)
[165] From Robert E. Park, _Principles of Human Behavior_, pp. 18-34. (The Zalaz Corporation, 1915.)
[166] Adapted from Edwin B. Holt, _The Freudian Wish and Its Place in Ethics_, pp. 3-56. (Henry Holt & Co., 1915.)
[167] Adapted from John B. Watson, "The Psychology of Wish Fulfillment," in the _Scientific Monthly_, III (1916), 479-86.
[168] A restatement from a paper by William I. Thomas, "The Persistence of Primary-Group Norms in Present-Day Society," in Jennings, Watson, Meyer, and Thomas, _Suggestions of Modern Science Concerning Education_. (Published by The Macmillan Co., 1917. Reprinted by permission.)
[169] _Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction_, 1901, p. 300.
[170] See p. 219.
[171] H. A. Taine, _The Ancient Régime_, Preface, p. viii. (New York, 1891.)
[172] Karl Lamprecht, _What Is History?_ p. 3. (New York, 1905.)
[173] See chap. i, _Sociology and the Social Sciences_, pp. 6-12.
[174] See references, chap. ii, "Human Nature," p. 149.
[175] For a discussion of the philosophical background of Adam Smith's political philosophy see Wilhelm Hasbach, _Untersuchungen über Adam Smith_. (Leipzig, 1891.)
[176] "The science of Political Economy as we have it in England may be defined as the science of business, such as business is in large productive and trading communities. It is an analysis of that world so familiar to many Englishmen--the 'great commerce' by which England has become rich. It assumes the principal facts which make that commerce possible, and as is the way of an abstract science it isolates and simplifies them: it detaches them from the confusion with which they are mixed in fact. And it deals too with the men who carry on that commerce, and who make it possible. It assumes a sort of human nature such as we see everywhere around us, and again it simplifies that human nature; it looks at one part of it only. Dealing with matters of 'business,' it assumes that man is actuated only by motives of business. It assumes that every man who makes anything, makes it for money, that he always makes that which brings him in most at least cost, and that he will make it in the way that will produce most and spend least; it assumes that every man who buys, buys with his whole heart, and that he who sells, sells with his whole heart, each wanting to gain all possible advantage. Of course we know that this is not so, that men are not like this; but we assume it for simplicity's sake, as an hypothesis."--Walter Bagehot, _The Postulates of English Political Economy_. (New York and London, 1885.)
[177] H. G. Wells, _The Outline of History_, Vol. II, pp. 579-95. (New York, 1920.)
[178] _Pure Sociology_, p. 261. (New York, 1903.)
[179] _Dynamic Sociology_, II, 90.(New York, 1883.)
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