XV1

PREFACE

fragmentary character which puts great obstacles in the
way of a comprehensive treatment. To overcome these dif-Geulties,
 his differentiated analytical contributions have
been integrated on the basis of his central idea regarding the
relation of philosophic inquiry to exact science. According
to Simmel, each exact science is flanked by two fields of
philosophic inquiry, an epistemology and a metaphysics.
This idea has been made the guiding principle for the
organization of the material of this study, and it is for
that reason that it is divided into three books. It is hoped
that in this form it will be a unified and comprehensive
totality, while yet giving Simmel’s own thought with the
least amount of distortion and interpolation.
The social sciences have not reached as yet that cosmopolitan
 nature which is characteristic of the natural
sciences. Physics and chemistry are international, but the
social sciences carry a distinct mark of nationality. American,
 English, French, German, and Russian sociology,
each has characteristics of its own. It is therein that they
show most clearly their limitation and announce to the
world how far they are removed as yet from that absolute
scientific objectivity which is the aim of every scientist.
Only an intensive cross-fertilization of thought can counteract
 the dangerous tendency toward national self-sufficiency
 and keep open the road toward advancement and
success. Only an international discussion of fundamental
presuppositions can give us a common method.
Should the following study contribute in that direction,
the labors involved will not have been in vain.
N. J. S.

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