ABSTRACT
The most important condition for the existence of human society is the acquisition of the means for such existence; all food, then shelter, clothes, weapons, tools—in short, of all the details necessary for the maintenance and protection of life. All activities which tend to the production of these things the authors include together—in the Sociological sense—under the title of Social Economy. From the definition it follows that the evolution of material phenomena is capable of scientific treatment from two different aspects—the study of the material objects themselves, and the study of their production. Goods are again divided into several branches, of which only the most important can be considered. These are the means of subsistence, implements in the widest sense of the word, clothing and shelter.
