Testament for Social Science (RLE Social Theory) : An Essay in the Application of Scientific Method to Human Problems

The contrast between man’s amazing ability to manipulate his world and his pitiful incompetence in managing his own affairs is now as commonplace as it is tragic. It is by rigorous devotion to scientific method that we have made our conquests over the material environment; it is obvious that this method is not normally applied to the field of relations of human beings, individual and collective. These are conducted in a quite different way, governed by a medley of primitive impulses set in a framework of a traditional morality that varies from place to place and age to age. In these matters science plays little part; yet more than a century has passed since Auguste Comte said that the rational reform of society must be brought about by the application of scientific method to social problems. It is, therefore, the first purpose of this essay to ask how far social problems might be tackled by the methods of science. ANYONE who sets out to enquire into the possible contribution of scientific method to human problems needs to be equipped, if he is to discharge the task adequately, with wide expert knowledge in both natural and social science, and at least to be able to meet the philosophers on their own ground. I am acutely conscious that these qualifications are not mine. On many of the subjects discussed in these pages I write frankly as an amateur, though naturally I have done my best to become as well-informed an amateur as I can. Unfortunately, those who have sufficient expertise are few, and greatly occupied with their own specialisms. Failing their contribution, the impact of scientific research as a whole upon human life is best perhaps considered independently by both the social and the natural scientists from their respective viewpoints.