Chapter 15

THE CONSTRUCTION OF GENERAL FORMULÆ

History, like every science, needs formulæ by which the facts acquired may be condensed into manageable form 262

Descriptive formulæ--Should retain characteristic features--Should be as concrete as possible 264

Formulæ describing general facts--How constructed--Conventional forms and realities--Mode of formulating an evolution 266

Formulæ describing unique facts--Principle of choice--"Character" of persons--Precautions in formulating them--Formulæ describing events 270

Quantitative formulæ--Operations by which they may be obtained: measurement, enumeration, valuation, sampling, generalisation--Precautions to be observed in generalising 274

Formulæ expressing relations--General conclusions--Estimation of the extent and value of the knowledge acquired--Imperfection of data not to be forgotten in construction 279

Groups and their classification 282

The "solidarity" of social phenomena--Necessity of studying causes--Metaphysical hypothesis--Providence--Conception of events as "rational"--The Hegelian "ideas"--The historical "mission"--The theory of the general progress of humanity 285

The conception of society as an organism--The comparative method--Statistics--Causes cannot be investigated directly, as in other sciences--Causation as exhibited in the sequence of particular events 288

The study of the causes of social evolution must look beyond abstractions to the concrete, acting and thinking men--The place of hereditary characteristics in determining evolution 292