Toward a Science of Man in Society pp 103-119 | Cite as
Human Society
Abstract
Any attempt to consider human society as a distinct form of organization and to introduce the social as a special category, separate and distinct from the inorganic and the organic levels of organization, may give rise to a fundamental objection. Thus it may be argued that if the social denotes a specific form of association between human beings, it is at best only a “highly special case of association and as such ... restricted in significance, humanly interesting, of course, but a matter of detail rather than of an important principle.”1 This objection to the whole attempt of distinguishing the social as a special phase of nature and a distinct category of description and interpretation overlooks, as Dewey also pointed out, the purely formal character of the concept of organization or system. The fact that all existent reality can be viewed as manifestations of structure or organization in the generic sense of these terms does not make it superfluous to inquire into the specific characteristics and distinguishing features exhibited by each. On the contrary, it is precisely the formal character of the concept of organization or system which makes such an inquiry necessary and fruitful.
Keywords
Social Action Social Process Human Society Inorganic Matter Human InfantPreview
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References
- J. Dewey, Philosophy and Civilization (New York, Minton, Balch and Co, 1931), p. 81.Google Scholar
- 1.Ibid., pp. 79–80.Google Scholar
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