A history of social thought

Chapter 2: PREFACE

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About This Book

The author surveys the evolution of ideas about human association, beginning with prehistoric and ancient civilizations and moving through Hebrew, Greek, Roman, Christian, and medieval perspectives. Renaissance and individualistic thinkers lead into modern theorists—population theory, positivism, socialism, geographic and organic analogies, and the early development of sociology—followed by anthropological, eugenic, conflict and cooperation theories, and psycho-sociological approaches. The book concludes with applied and educational sociology, methods of sociological investigation, and the channels by which social ideas spread, offering a systematized overview intended as a foundational background for students.

PREFACE

This book is written for the world of students. In it any seriously-minded person should find a fundamental background for understanding the central theme of human progress, a substantial basis for attacking the most important problems of the day, and a call to renew his faith in the soundness of human aspirations.

Inasmuch as this treatise is written for students, it is not intended to be the last word on the subject, but simply a first word. The theme of each chapter is in itself a subject for further investigation. In fact, the student with an alert mind will find in each chapter many subjects concerning which he will want to learn more. If the discussions in this book stimulate the student to make inquiries on his own initiative, they will have accomplished more than the author could have expected.

Emory S. Bogardus.

University of Southern California.
June 1, 1921.