A history of social thoughtBogardus, Emory S. (Emory Stephen)
History
A history of social thought
Bogardus, Emory S. (Emory Stephen)
Social psychology; Sociology -- History
Civilization is a complex of social values. Professor Ellwood’s
classification of values is widely different from the analysis that
Professor Giddings has made (given in the preceding chapter). According
to Professor Ellwood, western civilization is represented by the
following groups of social values historically derived: (1) a set
of spiritual and ethical values, described by the ancient Hebrews;
(2) a set of esthetic and philosophic concepts from the Greeks; (3)
a set of administrative and legal forms of Roman origin; (4) a set
of personal liberty beliefs of early Teutonic derivation; (5) a
scientific spirit and technique, originating during the Renaissance;
(6) economic efficiency, born of the industrial revolution; and
(7) an extensive group of humanitarian values, the product of the
nineteenth century. This vast and complicated Western Civilization
needs, however, to remove from its structure the three “rotten pillars”
of hyper-individualism, materialism, and selfish nationalism,
substituting for each its spiritualized and socialized counterpart.
The nature of social control, according to the analysis by Professor
E. C. Hayes, is “to secure the completed and most harmonious
realization of good human experience, regarded as an end in
itself.”[XXIII-58] Social control should prevent activities which do
not bear the test of reason, and should elicit those which stand that
test, when judged by their own intrinsic value and by their effect
upon other values. This statement of the purpose of social control is
similar to that of other standard interpretations of the matter.
There are two types of social control.[XXIII-59] The first is control
by sanctions, and the second by social suggestion, sympathetic
radiation, and imitation. Social sanctions refer to proffered rewards
and threatened punishments. Professor Hayes, however, makes not law
but personality the ultimate basis of social order. Repression of
crime is a correct social procedure but of a distinctly lower grade
than the movement to raise the moral character of those who never go
to prison. _The_ problem of social control is to take the instinctive
tendencies of each individual when he is young and make them over into
a disposition that is characterized by the four following traits:
(1) reliability, or honesty; (2) controlled animalism, or temperance
regarding eating, drinking, and other animal propensities; (3)
steadiness in endeavor; (4) the social spirit, or justice.[XXIII-60]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account