CHAPTER III 
SOCIOLOGY AS DISTINCT FROM THE 
SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SOCIAL 
PSYCHOLOGY 
[ry HE term “sociology” has sometimes been used for 
1 certain scientific inquiries which, although closely 
related to sociology, are none the less not identical 
with sociology. One of these is social psychology, the oth- 
ers are certain social sciences. In the latter case the confu- 
sion arose only if these social sciences, such as economics 
or political science, made use of the so-called sociological 
method. It is therefore necessary to define once more the 
study of sociology, but this time in relation to and in con- 
trast with the social sciences on the one hand and social 
psychology on the other. The distinction will then be seen 
to lie in the fundamental category of cognition by means 
of which these sciences abstract their specific subject- 
matter from the socio-historical actuality. 
The socio-historical actuality, society in the broader 
sense of the term, consists of the sum of all individuals con- 
curring in reciprocal relations, together with all the inter- 
ests which unite them. In other words, it consists of In- 
dividuals who are socialized on the basis of certain inter- 
ests or for specific purposes, together with these interests 
and purposes. The socio-historical actuality may there- 
fore be regarded from three distinct points of view: 
1. It may be viewed with reference to the individual ex- 
istences which are the bearers of the social situation. The 
social situation is then viewed as the result of specific psy- 
chological contents in the composing individual elements.