Henry Hughes, First American Sociologist

Abstract

called collective representations) peculiar to the field. We are impressed by the fact that many European writers, by contra'st, have been more inclined toward the development of well-rounded philosophies, comparatively complete in themselves. Examples of this are Tarde's Laws of Imitation, Gumplowicz' theory of Der Rassenkampf, Kropotkin's doctrine of Mutual Aid, Spann's Universalismus, and Oppenheimer's and Hobhouse's respective conceptions of the state and society. Space limitations prevent going further. The foregoing paragraphs have attempted to indicate some of the more striking points of comparison between the sociologies of the two continents. We differ in various ways in subject matter, in methods of discovery and presentation, in relation to schools and public life. Among us are divergent approaches and divergent emphases. But beneath all differences is a unity which binds us together into an increasing consciousness of interests that refuses to be restricted by limitations found in the national differences that on many fronts have so long produced political partisanship and international conflict. Sociology today cannot be successfully classified under nationalistic designations.