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PREFACE
sciences. We need not expect any real progress in theoretic
inquiry or any real advancement toward a practical solu-
tion of problems until the situation is cleared up and the
relation between sociology and the other social sciences
definitely determined.
In the United States the so-called science of sociology
has made the greatest strides. The number of books pub-
lished as sociology runs second only to fiction. It has risen
to the rank of an academic discipline, it is being taught in
colleges and high schools, and it expresses its self-assurance
in the form of innumerable textbooks. The result of this
formidable advancement is not clarity, but a formidable
confusion. Some of these textbooks actually resemble an
organized body of theoretic scientific knowledge. A great
many others contain a combination of social philosophy
and social ethics. The rest consist of anthologies of the
masterpieces of literature pertaining to social affairs and
of handbooks for social reformers. These latter are related
to the first as a country carpenter’s manual to a text on
theoretical mechanics.
This confusion is not due solely to the psychological
motives already mentioned, but the difficulties are also the
result of the conflicting demands which are made upon the
man whose fate it is to bear the title of sociologist. He
is supposed to be a scientist, a teacher, and an engineer.
These demands conflict, and the result has been that re-
search has been sacrificed to teaching. That this is not en-
couraging for the prospects of a rapid advance in social
angineering is evident.
As a teacher, the American sociologist has been re-
quired to give his students an understanding of the com-
plexities of social life. His subject has been a sort of glori-
fied high-school civics. As a college course, his subject is
extremely valuable, and it should be included in all cur-
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