ABSTRACT
Gentlemen, When we undertake the task of observing man and of knowing him, leaving the study of nature to the physicist and that of God to the metaphysician, we see appear, with a diversity likely to produce, at first sight, a certain degree of confusion, the sequence of quite numerous facts that must furnish the material of this science of man. The most important factsiii that appear in the theatre of human life are the attempts made by man to obtain his subsistence, be it in the hunting and fishing stage or in the pastoral stage, be it in the agricultural, industrial, and commercial stage; the laws instituted for settling the appropriation of wealth; the union of the sexes; public organization; peace and war; [100] sciences and arts; languages and religions. In the realm of nature, likewise appear, equally
numerous and varied, the facts of gravitation and weight, heat and light, electricity and magnetism, adhesion and cohesion, vegetation and life. Now, before taking into consideration one of the natural facts, like, for example, that of gravitation, to search there for the object of astronomy, it is helpful to create first the nomenclature and definitions of all natural facts by means of the philosophy of physical sciences; so it would be only excellent also, before dealing with any one of the human facts as the object of social science, like, for example, the fact of society, to accomplish first the enumeration and definition of all human facts by means of the philosophy of the moral sciences. In our situation, in particular, that way of proceeding is required. Among the facts of which humanity is the theatre, which we call human facts, there are some that we have encountered at the beginning of these studies. They were, if you remember, those of agriculture, industry, commerce, and credit, but also those of property, family, and government. Well then, two things became apparent: first, the theories of these facts are lacking; second, and above all, the method itself to formulate these theories is lacking. We saw the facts and the theories in question being claimed in contradictory terms by two sciences, one of which calls itself economics, asserting that it proceeds in the name of the principle of economic advantageousness, and the other of which calls itself social science, maintaining that it acts by virtue of the principle of justice. It is necessary to settle this detrimental disagreement, and therefore we must examine all social, economic, and moral facts, and identify those that must be seen as related to the principle of advantageousness and those that must be seen as related to the principle of justice. Who does not know this? Man does not [101] only seek that which is useful and good, he also seeks that which is true and beautiful. Let us therefore consider all human facts as a whole, and categorize them with the principles of beauty, truth, goodness, and usefulness. Why should we limit ourselves to establishing the relations between work and mores? Why not establish at the same time the relations of work and mores with science and art? If that which is useful and that which is good are in agreement, they may undoubtedly also both be in agreement with that which is true and that which is beautiful; let us therefore pursue within the framework of this general harmony the special concordance between advantageousness and justice. I think, gentlemen, that you are in this respect sufficiently convinced, and I now begin the description of the world of humanity, or this philosophy of human sciences. The way we have to follow here is not at all uncertain. The line of demarcation between nature and humanity is the one separating the physical human being from the moral one. On the one side of this line, man lives a physiological life and a psychological life that are purely animal; on the other side, he lives a physiological life and a psychological life that are human in the strict sense of the word. In the first respect, he belongs to physiology and psychology that are physical; in the second, he belongs to physiology and psychology that are moral. It is therefore incontestable that we have to seek and discover, in the distinction between man as an animal and man in the proper sense of the word, the principles of a distinction between the natural sciences and the human sciences, as well as a classification of the latter.
