The Principles of Sociology; an Analysis of the Phenomena of Association and of Social Organisation

Abstract

WITH extensive learning and a good deal of original speculation, Prof. Giddings has written a very useful general introduction to sociology. The scope and nature of this recently established science are not yet well understood, and hitherto it has been difficult to refer to any one book from which they could be learnt; for Comte is out of date; Mr. Spencer's great work is still incomplete, though already rather terrifying in its proportions; and the greater part of the information obtainable on the subject must be sought in innumerable monographs on primitive law, marriage, religion, art, in volumes, essays, and the journals of learned societies. In the present volume, however, the most interesting lines of sociological inquiry are indicated, and the best ascertained results are collected, critically examined, and scientifically arranged within a moderate compass.

The Principles of Sociology; an Analysis of the Phenomena of Association and of Social Organisation.

By Franklin Henry Giddings, Professor of Sociology in Columbia University in the City of New York. Pp. xvi + 476. (New York and London: Macmillan and Co., 1896.)