ABSTRACT
In Sumner's view the folkways and mores were products of evolutionary experience, and 'World philosophy, life policy, rights and morality are all products of the folkways'. All of these responses to the question of social order are reductive. The linkage between sociological discourse, morality and social reform is complicated because of the various ways it has been historically worked out. The author discusses the increasingly amoral discourse of sociology as it relates to the continuation of the inconsistent themes reflected in more recent conceptions of self and society. The introduction of social systems theory, and especially treatment of a post-industrial society, paralleled the rejection of the link between science and social reform. One direction for sociology today would be to learn from the new social movements, such as the peace movement, the environmental movement and the women's movement.
