INTRODUCTORY

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as  an  organic  whole  does  not  lend  itself
to  analysis.  By  the  statement  that  society
is  an  organic  whole  is  meant  that  no  one
set  of  human  actions  can  be  regarded  as
wholly  unconnected  with  any  other  set
of  human  actions  taking  place  in  the  same
community.  Each  society,  it  is  asserted—
and  we  may  allow  at  once  rightly  asserted—
presents  an  organized  system  of  activities
covering  all  that  happens  at  one  time  and
reaching  backwards  into  the  past  and  forwards ­
  into  the  future.  A  simple  illustration
can  readily  be  furnished.  My  demand  for  a
particular  ^  book  to-day—say,  for  Pareto’s
Cours  cTEconomie  Politique,  which  at  the
time  that  I  write  is  out  of  print—is
dependent  (a)  upon  my  possession  of  other
things,  which  gives  to  this  want  the  opportunity ­
  of  expressing  itself,  or  may  even  be
partially  responsible  for  its  existence  ;  (b)
upon  my  education  and  circumstances  in
the  past  ;  (c)  upon  my  ideas  and  determinations ­
  as  regards  my  future  ;  and
(d)  upon  the  tastes,  acquirements  and
possessions  of  my  fellows.  This  being
so,  to  take  out  the  demand  in  question
and  try  to  study  it  as  an  independent
specimen  is  to  imply  an  atomistic  view  of
social  functioning  which  is  in  conflict  with