On the Present Situation in Sociology, and its Possibilities

There is no doubt that expert sociological knowledge is becoming indispensable in the planning and organization of contemporary life. There have been attempts to place sociology in the same class as physics, using the argument that sociology assumes the same role in directing society that physics has in technology. This is especially said to be true of modern society, which is so complex that the very efficiency of its organization demands the manipulation of people as if they were objects. Here it must be said that if sociology was as successful in its field as physics is, it would be unbearable from the human point of view. But this is not the situation. Sociology does not have sure and standard means of directing people. It constantly stimulates the social ferments that undermine existing rules and customs and provides new perspectives and possibilities. Thus, besides being useful in rationalizing and cushioning the sharp conflicts of complex modem society, sociology also has a markedly critical function. It is directed towards destroying whatever is stagnant or dead, and is an essential pre-condition for the creation of new, more humane, forms of life