[244] Die kulturhistorische Methode, Berlin, 1900, p. 26.
[245] Ibid. pp. 28, 29.
X
DARWINISM AND SOCIOLOGY
By C. Bouglé
Professor of Social Philosophy in the University of Toulouse and Deputy-Professor at the Sorbonne, Paris
How has our conception of social phenomena, and of their history, been affected by Darwin's conception of Nature and the laws of its transformation? To what extent and in what particular respects have the discoveries and hypotheses of the author of The Origin of Species aided the efforts of those who have sought to construct a science of society?
To such a question it is certainly not easy to give any brief or precise answer. We find traces of Darwinism almost everywhere. Sociological systems differing widely from each other have laid claim to its authority; while, on the other hand, its influence has often made itself felt only in combination with other influences. The Darwinian thread is worked into a hundred patterns along with other threads.