We may fairly say that men, through a persistent psychic tendency to make believe, which is at the same time both juvenile and something more permanent and significant, have, in evolving the contemporary artificial economy with its money exchange, invented a great and complicated game, with conventional valuations, rules, and penalties which have been generally agreed upon, and which in turn can be altered by general agreement. And conceivably this game is capable of improvement so as to be more worth the candle. Book III is virtually an attempt to amplify the sentence last quoted by a discussion of economic policies most conductive not to immediate gratification but "to the forwarding of ultimate racial objectives." The title is The Broad Questions of the Dual Economy. The book is not a technical treatise, but it is worth several stacks of shelves of technical treatises that might be named. It does not propose plans and specifications for setting the world to rights, but it presents a fine example of the co-operation of cautious judgment with a genial sense of humor in considering economic policies and programs. It is a distinct addition to our literature. Not only should it be read by every student of the social sciences, but it should be of both interest and instruction to all social workers, from wearers of union buttons to "the president of the United States and all others in authority." ALBION W. SMALL UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Means of Social Control. By FREDERICK ELMORE LUMLEY. New York: The Century Co., 1925. Pp. xiii+415. $3.75. Since it appears to be the general consensus of sociologists that social control is a fundamental problem, and since there has been a dearth of books dealing directly with the subject since Ross's admirable short treatise appeared, Professor Lumley's Means of Social Control will prove a welcome addition to sociological literature. Besides an excellent introductory chapter dealing with some of the more theoretic aspects and problems of social control, the book consists of a series of chapters, each treating one of the more obvious means by which order is maintained and chaos avoided in social groups. Among the topics so treated are "Rewards," "Praise," "Persuasion," "Slogans," "Gossip," "Laughter," and "Punishment." The general method of procedure employed by the author has been to start from some of the common-sense generalizations to which any intelligent person would agree and to carry the analysis part-way in the direction of more fundamental and abstract analysis. It is pointed out clearly in the Introduction that a great deal of careful research must be made before a rigorously scientific theory of social control can be written. Some parts of this book are naturally much better than others. The chapters on "Slogans," "Propaganda," and "Gossip" are particularly good. The reviewer feels the lack of any extended treatment of the most elementary means of social control, to which Herbert Spencer referred when he wrote, "The modified forms of action caused in men by the presence of their fellows constitute that comparatively vague control out of which other more definite controls are evolved." This book should be very useful in advanced college classes, either as a textbook or as "assigned reading." UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO FLOYD N. HOUSE The Philosophy of "As If": A System of the Theoretical, Practical, and Religious Fictions of Mankind. By HANS VAIHINGER, translated by C. K. OGDEN. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1925. Pp. xlviii+370. $7.50. The History of Materialism and Criticism of Its Present Importance. BY FREDERICK ALBERT LANGE. Authorized translation by ERNEST CHESTER THOMAS (3d ed.; 3 volumes in 1), with an Introduction by Bertrand Russell. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1925. Pp. xlii+330+397+370. $5.00. These two books are among the more recent additions to the "International Library of Psychology, Philosophy, and Scientific Method,” edited for British and American publication by C. K. Ogden. For sociologists, the greatest interest of these translations from the German lies in the contributions which they make to the field of general scientific method. Recent literature abounds in indications of a revival of interest in questions of general methodology, among the social scientists and among other scientists also. Those who are particularly devoted to such interests will welcome the convenience of English translations of the more important works of some of the modern German writers, primarily philosophers, who have used their own methods to develop principles of general methodology upon which as foundations, or with which as tools, the special scientists may be helped in erecting their own specialized structures. Lange's History of Materialism is already known to American schol ars, having been translated into English some years ago. The peculiar merit of the present edition is its combination of the three volumes of the original in one binding, at a price within reach of the average purchaser. For the information of the reader who may not be familiar with Lange's work, it may be said that the present reviewer has found it, because of its able marshaling of facts and its stimulating interpretation, a useful supplement to other secondary sources for the study of the history of social thought. Many of the contemporary students of sociology are convinced that the careful study of its development is one of the most fruitful approaches to the understanding and perfection of its methodology. Vaihinger's Philosophy of "As If" has been attracting attention, since its first appearance in the original language, on the part of those American students who have sufficient command of the German to give them reasonably easy access to its content. It is a book of one idea, but that one idea is a very important one for the social scientist. A very satisfactory statement of the author's fundamental thesis is found in a passage which we quote from his autobiographical introduction to the present edition: Many thought-processes and thought-constructs appear to be consciously false assumptions, which either contradict reality or are even contradictory in themselves, but which are intentionally thus formed in order to overcome difficulties of thought by this artificial deviation, and reach the goal of thought by roundabout ways and by-paths. These artificial thought-constructs are called Scientific Fictions and distinguished as conscious creations by their "as if" character. There is perhaps nothing absolutely new or unique in Vaihinger's "as if" philosophy, but by the fresh and clear emphasis he has given to the use of fictions in scientific method he has rendered an important service. It is interesting and profitable to compare this book with Simmel's elaboration of much the same theses in the special field of social science, as set forth in Spykman's recent summary in English of the later writer's social theory.1 UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO FLOYD N. HOUSE 'Nicholas J. Spykman, The Social Theory of Georg Simmel. University of Chicago Press, 1925. Reviewed by Albion W. Small in the American Journal of Sociology for July, 1925, p. 84. Foundations of Christianity. By KARL KAUTSKY. New York: In ternational Publishers, 1925. Pp. 489. $4.00. This volume is a translation from the thirteenth German edition, written, as the author says, in the leisure moments between revolutions; that is to say, in the period between the opening of the Russian revolution of 1905 and the close of the Turkish revolution of 1908. In an attempt to trace Christianity "from its humble beginnings as a revolutionary movement among the oppressed city-dwellers of Palestine against the Jewish hierarchy and imperial power of Rome to its assumption of an authority equal to and transcending that of the Roman empire itself." The social revolution inaugurated by Christianity is from some points of view the most romantic episode in history. What troubles the souls of socialists like Kautsky is that it achieved success in genuine Hegelian fashion by "evolving into its opposite." "The Christian organization, the church, attained victory by surrendering its original aims and defending their opposite." The question inevitably raised is, "Must the parallelism between socialism and Christianity be regarded as complete? Will socialism succeed only by changing its fundamental character and surrendering the vision with which it was first inspired?" Kautsky is unwilling to draw any such conclusion. "Indeed," he says, "if the victory of socialism is to be achieved in the same way as that of Christianity, this would be a good reason for renouncing not revolution but the Social-Democracy." Since The Foundations of Christianity was first published there has been a revolution in Russia on a grand scale. In a volume published in 1920, Terrorism and Communism: A Contribution to the Natural History of Revolution, Kautsky has added another chapter to his analysis of revolutionary movements. Terrorism and Communism may be regarded in some sense as the epilogue to the present volume. It reveals the fact that Bolshevism has followed fatally the path of Christianity. What was a movement of liberation in its origin has evolved an institution for the suppression of liberty. It is inevitable that the prophets and promoters of social revolutions should be more interested in making history than in writing it. "The materialistic conception of history," as Kautsky has elsewhere remarked, "is important not only because it allows us to explain history better than has been done up to now, but enables us to make history better than hitherto done." One is not certain whether the present volume is intended to make history or merely to record it. At any rate, The Foundation of Christianity is not history; it is a brilliant tract! ROBERT E. PARK UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Social Problems and Education. BY ERNEST R. GROVES. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1925. Pp. v+458. $2.75. Teachers of sociology in colleges and universities have long held the opinion that the study of concrete social problems is useful not only in itself, as a preparation for citizenship, but also as one of the effective approaches to the study of theoretic sociology. For courses in social problems, however, the college instructor has not had many satisfactory textbooks from among which to choose. Ellwood's Sociology and Modern Social Problems has long been standard, and there have been a number of textbooks for the study of single problems or closely related sets of problems. Recently Ford's Social Problems and Social Policy has afforded a stimulating and well-selected collection of readings, but many instructors believe that for, say, college sophomores, a collection of readings needs to be supplemented by a regularly organized textbook. To all such persons the recent appearance of several textbooks, each dealing with a comprehensive list of major social problems, should be very welcome, and among these recent offerings Professor Groves's Social Problems and Education will be awarded a high rank. The only major social problem which appears to be missing in the content of this book is poverty. It is no more than would be expected that there should be noticeable unevenness in any one author's treatment of so wide a range of topics, and that is, in fact, what we find in this book. The author's point of view is on the whole distinctly sociological and not merely administrative; this is true particularly of the two opening chapters, which deal with "Juvenile Delinquency" and "Crime." Some of the other chapters, however, notably the one dealing with "Public Health," and restricted more nearly to the administrative outlook, and the latter chapter seems to lack interpretation which would bring out just how it fits into a general sociological study of social problems. Minor defects could be noted, as for instance in the concluding chapter, entitled "Public Opinion," in which the author fails to bring out the distinction, which is surely helpful and is now becoming standard among sociologists, between public opinion and the mores. |