Herbert Spencer.
The evolutionist explanation of the natural world as applied to sociology found its fullest exponent in Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), who studied the anatomy of the social frame. He derived the principles of sociology from the principles of psychology and of biology, and regarded social development as a super-organic evolution.
But all these earlier attempts to discover a social science were speculative rather than practical. The solid foundations of inductive sociology were laid by Bachofen, Morgan, J. F. McLennan, and others.
Bachofen, Morgan, McLennan, and others.
Bachofen (1861) was the first to study the system of filiation through the mother, or mother-right, which was widely distributed among ancient peoples, and still occurs in many regions in a more or less developed condition. McLennan frankly states that “the honour of that discovery, the importance of which, as affording a new starting-point for all history, cannot be over-estimated, must, without stint or qualification, be assigned to him” (1876, p. 421). Independently, however, J. F. McLennan (1827-1881), in his Primitive Marriage (1865), arrived at the conclusion “that the most ancient system in which the idea of blood-relationship was embodied was a system of kinship through females only.”[[102]] He points out more than once that “Mr. Maine seems not to have been able to conceive of any social order more primitive than the patriarchal.”[[103]] This book was reprinted with additions in 1876, and his two other books were published posthumously (1885, 1896). In these and more fugitive writings McLennan was a keen controversialist, and with unnecessary vigour and animus attacked Morgan, Sir Henry Maine, and Dr. Howitt. McLennan’s attitude may be partly explained by the fact that he was a lawyer and a theorist, but he possessed great enthusiasm, with which he infused those who came into contact with him, and his labours served to advance the study of sociology.
[102]. P. 124 of 1876 ed.
[103]. P. 181, ibid.
“From the time of Plato downwards, theories of human society have been current in which the family living under the headship of a father is accepted as the ultimate social unit. These theories have taken various shapes ... with Sir Henry Maine (Ancient Law, 1861) the theory becomes a theory of the origin of society, or at least of the earliest stage of society in which Comparative Jurisprudence is called upon to take interest.”[[104]]
[104]. D. McLennan, The Patriarchal Theory, 1885, p. x.
Morgan was undoubtedly the greatest sociologist of the past century, and in his monumental work (1871) laid a solid foundation for the study of the family and kinship systems; he formulated a scheme of the evolution of the family based on a study of the classificatory system of relationships,[[105]] of which he was the discoverer. According to this scheme, human society has advanced, through gradual evolution, from a state of complete promiscuity to one characterised by monogamy. Dr. Rivers[[106]] points out that “In recent years the scheme has encountered much opposition.... The opponents of Morgan have made no attempt to distinguish between different parts of his scheme, but, having shown that certain of its features are unsatisfactory, they have condemned the whole.” The greater part of Morgan’s work is, however, of lasting value. Morgan based his conclusions on an enormous number of kinship terms collected by himself and others from every available source. Dr. Rivers has introduced[[107]] a new method of collecting similar data by means of recording exhaustive genealogies from a limited area. In this way not only can kinship terms be collected with accuracy, but a large number of other sociological data are obtained with a readiness and precision not hitherto possible. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that this method is producing a revolution in the method of sociological field work.