Sociology and Ethics
The Facts of Social Life as the Source of Solutions for the Theoretical and Practical Problems of Ethics (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Sociology and Ethics: The Facts of Social Life as the Source of Solutions for the Theoretical and Practical Problems of Ethics<br><br>"These [writings of Comte, Spencer, Schaeffle, etc.] are of course incomplete attempts, but nevertheless they are the most important supports for an empirical ethics, and indispensable aids for solving the common problems of the special social sciences. Thus if one places the emphasis chiefly upon synthesis or upon the particular investigation of those problems which all of the special social sciences have in common one will not be able to deny the right of this sociology - which in fact is only a sort of developed empirical ethics - to an established place among the sciences." - Gustav Schmoller, Grundriss der Allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftslehre.<br><br>"Religion is an unselfish enthusiasm uniting vast bodies of men in aspiration toward an ideal, and proving the source of heroic virtues." - W. E. H. Lecky, History of Rationalism in Europe.<br><br>"What do I care whether all things are composed of atoms, or of similar parts or of fire and earth For is it not enough to know the nature of the good and the evil, and the measures of the desires and the aversions, and also the movements toward things and from them; and, using these as rules, to administer the affairs of life, but not to trouble ourselves about the things above us For these things are perhaps incomprehensible to the human mind: and if any man should even suppose them to be in the highest degree comprehensible, what then is the profit of them, if they are comprehended And must we not say that those men have needless trouble who assign these things as necessary to the philosopher's discourse" - Fragment attributed to Epictetus.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.