Category: Sociology

 

 

From 1891-94 Franklin H. Giddings held overlapping appointments at Bryn Mawr College and Columbia University. In 1894 he was appointed professor of sociology at Columbia. Most economists today are not aware that academic economics and sociology were much closer to being siblings than kissing-cousins back in 1893 and even for several decades into the twentieth century. Giddings taught economics, political science, and sociology while at Bryn Mawr.

After several years of service as a vice-president of the American Economic Association, Franklin H. Giddings  went on to become a president of the American Sociological Association. 

Frank H. Hankins wrote the entry on Franklin H. Giddings for the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (1968).

Economics in the Rear-view Mirror is happy to provide links to all but one of the items listed in Giddings’ printed Readings in Sociology that can be found in his papers at Columbia University. He writes “In the following bibliographical notes and directions for reading only the most essential things are included. No attempt is made to offer a bibliography for advanced or special students.”

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Graduate Course
Bryn Mawr College

Sociology, Mr. Giddings.
Once weekly throughout the year.

A course of thirty lectures will be given on General Sociology. The various attempts that have been made to construct a philosophical science of society as an organic whole will be examined, and the field of sociology, as a study distinct from history, politics, and economics, will be defined. The causes and laws of social change will be sought, and the lectures will then lead up to the problem of progress, its conditions and limits. The different types of progressive and unprogressive societies will be studied comparatively. Statistical methods will be employed to show the reactions of civilisation that take such forms as insanity, suicide, crime, pauperism, and changes in birth-rates and A death-rates. Fellows and graduate students expecting to do advanced work in this course must have, besides their equipment in history and political-economy, a general knowledge of the history of philosophy, and some acquaintance with the literature of modern biology and empirical psychology. A reading knowledge of French and German is requisite.

 

Source:  Program. Bryn Mawr College. 1893.   Philadelphia: Sherman & Co., Printers, p. 72.

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READINGS IN
SOCIOLOGY

To accompany lectures given by
FRANKLIN H. GIDDINGS.
1893.

General or Philosophical Sociology

The word “sociology” was first used by Auguste Comte, in the Cours de Philosophie Positive, as a name for that part of a positive, or verifiable, philosophy, which should attempt to explain the phenomena of human society. It was exactly equivalent to “social physics,” for the task of sociology was to discover the nature, the natural causes, and the natural laws of society, and to banish from history, politics, economics, etc., all appeals to the metaphysical and the supernatural, as they had been banished from astronomy and from chemistry. Comte argued also that society should be studied as a whole, as a unit or organism, and objected to political economy, for example, as unscientific, because it was partial or fragmentary in its view of the social organization and process.

Since Comte the evolutionist explanation of the natural world has made its way into social interpretations, and from this point of view sociology has become an attempt to explain society in terms of natural causes, working themselves out in a process of evolution.

Christian thinkers, on the other hand, have adopted the term, and, so far as it goes, the conception, but have insisted on the recognition of a divine, providential, and final cause back of, or co-operating with efficient or natural causes, in working out human destinies.

In either case, general or philosophical sociology is a broad but penetrating and thorough scientific study of society as a whole; a search for its causes, for the laws of its structure and growth, and for a rational view of its purpose, function, meaning or destiny.

General sociology cannot be subdivided into special social sciences, such as economics, law, politics, etc., without losing its distinctive character. It should be looked upon as the foundation or ground-work of those sciences, rather than as their sum, or as their collective name.

But the general sociology of those savage and barbarian peoples who are organized in hordes, clans, and tribes, should be in a measure familiar to the student before he attempts the sociology of the great modern populations which are politically organized in national states. The former may be called ethnographic, the latter demographic, sociology. The data of ethnographic sociology are found mainly in the works of ethnologists. Among its most important problems are those of the origins and development of the forms of social intercourse and pleasure, the origins and early forms of the family, the relation of the clan to the family and to the tribe, and the development of tribal into national life. The data of demographic sociology are for the most part statistical. Among its chief problems are those of the characteristics and the conditions of progress, of the growth and limitations of population, of the vast and complex development of the division of labor, and of the growth and mutual relations of the so-called social classes.

In working his way through these problems the student finds that, at any given time and in given circumstances, certain social relations and conditions may be described as normal, while others are unmistakably abnormal. In like manner, certain elements in the population are normal and others most clearly abnormal in character and conduct. The latter are the so-called defective, dependent, and delinquent classes. He perceives that, for both practical and theoretical purposes, the thorough study of abnormal phenomena is so important that the problems here presented may be conveniently grouped under the separate head, social pathology.

Theoretically, social pathology has for the sociologist the same importance that physical or mental abnormality or illness has for the physiologist or the psychologist. The abnormal reveals and defines the normal. Many sociologists would maintain that a constructive general sociology can be built up only on the basis of researches in social pathology.

In the following bibliographical notes and directions for reading only the most essential things are included. No attempt is made to offer a bibliography for advanced or special students.

The student of sociology should begin his readings, if possible, with a concise but comprehensive work. The best book for this purpose is:

Grundriss der Sociologie, von Dr. Ludwig Gumplowicz, Vienna, 1885.

The first 50 pages are a history of sociological theories and literature to the present time. The remaining 195 pages are a compact outline of sociological principles. Starting with a search for the elements of social life. Professor Gumplowicz insists that “the true social element is neither an institution nor an idea nor a biological process. it is a concrete social group of living men with all their feelings and habits; in short, the primitive horde or tribe. Social structure, industrial organization, government, and intellectual progress all begin when these elements are bound together in lordship and subordination; some groups having subdued others, established government over them, and set them at enforced labor.”

This work is now being translated into English. [English translation by Frederick Douglas Moore (1899) ]

The student should next become acquainted with the beginnings of sociological philosophy in Comte, and with the evolutionist sociology of Spencer. Read, therefore, as follows:

The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte, freely translated and condensed by Harriet Martineau. Third edition. London, 1893.

Volume I., Introduction. Chapters I. and II.
Volume II., first six chapters.

Social Statics. By Herbert Spencer. Revised edition. New York, 1892.

Chapter on “General Considerations.”

An Epitome of the Synthetic Philosophy [of Herbert Spencer]. By F. Howard Collins. New York, 1889.

Chapter II. (a summary of Part II. of First Principles).
Chapter III., first six sections. (A summary of the first six chapters of The Principles of Biology.)
Chapter VIII. (A summary of Part VI. of The Principles of Biology.)
Chapter XI. (A summary of Part III. of The Principles of Psychology.)

The Principles of Sociology. By Herbert Spencer.

Part I., first eight chapters, and Chapter XXVII.
Part II. entire.

Comte attempted to interpret society in terms of physical forces. His knowledge of physical science and his grasp of social relations were inadequate.

Spencer actually does carry the physical interpretation a long way. His shortcoming is an inadequate recognition and an imperfect treatment of the psychical, especially the volitional aspects of the social process. He is best in his exposition of social evolution as a consequence of an equilibration of energies in accordance with the Newtonian laws of motion, and as a phase of the progressive adjustment of organism to environment. But only a small part of this portion of his work is found in those of his books that bear sociological titles. For this reason it is absolutely necessary for the student to read either the First Principles, the Biologyand the Psychology, or Mr. Collins’ epitomes, as above.

 

Walter Bagehot and John Fiske lay much emphasis on the combined workings of imitation and volition on the subjective side, with natural selection on the objective side. Read:

Physics and Politics. By Walter Bagehot. New York, 1876.
Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy. By John Fisk. Boston, 1874-1891.

Chapters XVI.—XXII., inclusive.

The most adequate treatment of the psychic forces in social evolution is found in the writings of Lester F. Ward, who argues that artificial selection gradually supplements natural selection, and that society, becoming self-conscious, can and should volitionally shape its own destiny. Read:

Dynamic Sociology. 2 volumes. By Lester F. Ward. New York, 1883.

Volume I., Chapter VII.

The Psychic Factors of Civilization. By Lester F. Ward. Boston, 1893.

As yet there are no systematic and comprehensive treatises on sociology from a distinctly Christian or theistic point of view. The following works are recommended:

An Introduction to Social Philosophy. By John S. Mackenzie. London and New York, 1890.

The philosophy is neo-Hegelian.

Social Aspects of Christianity. By Brooke Foss Westcott. London, 1887.

The Nation. By Elisha Mulford. Boston, 1881.

 

The following works should be referred to:

Gedanken über eine Socialwissenschaft der Zukunft. Von Paul von Lilienfeld. Mitau, 1873.
Bau und Leben des socialen Körpers. Dr. A. Schäffle, Tübingen, 1875. [Vol. I ; Vol II]
Der Mensch in der Geschichte. Zur Begründung einer Psychologischen Weltanschauung. By Adolf Bastian. Leipzig, 1860. [Vol. I ; Vol. II; Vol. III]
Introduction à la Sociologie. Par Dr. Guillaume de Greef. Bruxelles. Première partie, 1886.  Deuxième Partie, 1889.
Éléments de Sociologie. Par Combes de Lestrade. Paris, 1889.

The foregoing expository reading should be supplemented by two or three critical works on the province, aims and methods of sociological science. The best are:

The Study of Sociology. By Herbert Spencer. New York, 1875.
La Science Sociale Contemporaine. Par Alfred Fouillée. Deuxième édition. Paris, 1885.
La Sociologie. Par E. Roberty. Deuxième édition. Paris, 1886.

 

The following works are the best introduction to ethnographic sociology, demographic sociology, and social pathology.

Ethnographic Sociology.

La Sociologie d’après l’Ethnographie. Par Dr. Charles Letourneau. Troisième édition. Paris, 1892.

An English translation of the first edition was published in London in 1881.

An Epitome of the Synthetic Philosophy. (Collins, as above.) .

Chapters XX., XXI., XXII., XXIII. (A summary of Part III., “The Domestic Relations;” Part IV., “Ceremonial Institutions;” Part V., “Political Institutions;” and Par VI., “Ecclesiastical Institutions,” of The Principles of Sociology.)

The History of Human Marriage. By Edward Westermarck. London, 1891.

This is the most comprehensive, and, on the whole, the most judicious treatment of this warmly debated question.

Ancient Society. By Lewis H. Morgan. New York, 1878.

Read especially Part II.

The Early History of Institutions. By Sir Henry Sumner Maine. Fifth edition. London and New York, 1889.

Read especially Chapters II.-V., inclusive.

 

As works of reference consult:

Studies in Ancient History.By John Ferguson McLennan, London and New York, 1886.
The Patriarchal Theory. By John Ferguson McLennan. London and New York, 1885.
Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia. By W. Robertson Smith. Cambridge, University Press, 1885.
The Primitive Family. By Dr. C. N. Starcke. New York, 1889.
Studien zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des Familienrechts. Von Dr. Albert Hermann Post.   [This hathitrust.org item is not available online]
The Evolution of Marriage. By Dr. Charles Letourneau. New York, 1891.
L’Évolution Juridique dan des Diverses Races Humaines. Par Dr. Charles Letourneau. Paris, 1891.

 

Demographic Sociology.

Read:

National Life and Character. By Charles H. Pearson. London, 1893.

Chapters I. and II.

Introduction à la Sociologie. Par Guillaume De Greef. Paris, 1889.

Deuxième Partie.

Or:

Principles of Economics. By Alfred Marshall. London, 1890.

Book IV., Chapters VIII.-XII.

Marshall, as above:

Book IV., Chapters IV.-VI.

Studies in Statistics. By G.B. Longstaff. London, 1891.

Chapters I.-XII.

Statistics and Economics. By Richmond Mayo-Smith. The American Economic Association, 1888.
Emigration and Immigration. By Richmond Mayo-Smith. New York, 1892.
Labour and Life of the People. Edited by Charles Booth. London, 1891.

Vol. I., Part I. and Part III., Chapter II.

Études Pénales et Sociales. Par G. Tarde. Paris, 1892.

Last four papers

 

Consult:

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society
Publications of the American Statistical Association.

 

Social Pathology

 

Read:

Philanthropy and Social Progress. Edited by Henry C. Adams. Boston, 1893.

Chapter VI.

An Introduction to the Study of the Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent Classes. By Charles R. Henderson. Boston, 1893.
The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease, and Heredity. By R. L. Dugdale. New York, 1884.
Suicide. By Henry Morselli. New York, 1882.
Crime and its Causes. By W. D. Morrison. London, 1891.

Or:

La Criminalité Comparée. Par G. Tarde. Paris, 1890.
The Criminal. By Havelock Ellis. London, 1892.
Illegitimacy, and the Influence of Seasons Upon Conduct.  By Albert Leffingwell. London, 1892.

 

Source: Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Franklin Henry Giddings papers, 1890-1931. Box 4.

Image Source:  University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D. Vol. II, p. 454.