Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Lester Frank Ward" - New World
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'''Lester F. Ward''' ([[June 18]], [[1841]] in Joliet, [[Illinois]] - [[April 18]], [[1913]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]), American [[botanist]] and [[paleontologist]] and [[sociologist]], first president of the [[American Sociological Association]]. | '''Lester F. Ward''' ([[June 18]], [[1841]] in Joliet, [[Illinois]] - [[April 18]], [[1913]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]), American [[botanist]] and [[paleontologist]] and [[sociologist]], first president of the [[American Sociological Association]]. | ||
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A sociology which intelligently and scientifically directed the social and economic development of society should institute a universal and comprehensive system of [[education]], regulate [[competition]], connect the people together on the basis of equal opportunities and [[cooperation]], and promote the [[happiness]] and the [[Freedom (philosophy)|freedom]] of everyone. | A sociology which intelligently and scientifically directed the social and economic development of society should institute a universal and comprehensive system of [[education]], regulate [[competition]], connect the people together on the basis of equal opportunities and [[cooperation]], and promote the [[happiness]] and the [[Freedom (philosophy)|freedom]] of everyone. | ||
+ | [[Image:WARD-MOOREHEAD.jpg|450px|left|thumb|Lester Frank Ward]] | ||
Ward was a strong advocate for equal rights for women and even theorized that women were naturally superior to men, much to the scorn of main stream sociologists. | Ward was a strong advocate for equal rights for women and even theorized that women were naturally superior to men, much to the scorn of main stream sociologists. | ||
Revision as of 17:49, 13 June 2006
Lester F. Ward (June 18, 1841 in Joliet, Illinois - April 18, 1913 in Washington, D.C.), American botanist and paleontologist and sociologist, first president of the American Sociological Association.
Lester Ward believed that science should work for the improvement of the human condition. As he put it in the Preface to Dynamic Sociology (1883): "The real object of science is to benefit man. A science which fails to do this, however agreeable its study, is lifeless. Sociology, which of all sciences should benefit man most, is in danger of falling into the class of polite amusements, or dead sciences. It is the object of this work to point out a method by which the breath of life may be breathed into its nostrils." Ward theorized that poverty could be minimized or eliminated by systematic state intervention. Mankind wasn't helpless before the impersonal force of nature and evolution — through the power of Mind, man could take control of the situation and direct the evolution of human society. This theory is known as telesis. Also see: meliorism, sociocracy and public sociology
A sociology which intelligently and scientifically directed the social and economic development of society should institute a universal and comprehensive system of education, regulate competition, connect the people together on the basis of equal opportunities and cooperation, and promote the happiness and the freedom of everyone.
Ward was a strong advocate for equal rights for women and even theorized that women were naturally superior to men, much to the scorn of main stream sociologists.
Ward placed himself in direct opposition to Social Darwinism, especially the work of Herbert Spencer (Ward admired much of Spencer's work but thought that Spencer had lost his way when he tried to apply his ideas to the world of government and politics) and Spencer's American disciple, William Graham Sumner, who gained great fame (and wealth) in the American business community by single-mindedly promoting the principles of laissez faire and survival of the fittest. To quote Henry Steele Commager: "Ward was the first major scholar to attack this whole system of negativist and absolutist sociology and he remains the ablest....Before Ward could begin to formulate that science of society which he hoped would inaugurate an era of such progress as the world had not yet seen, he had to destroy the superstitions that still held domain over the mind of his generation. Of these, laissez faire was the most stupefying, and it was on the doctrine of laissez faire that he trained his heaviest guns. The work of demolition performed in Dynamic Sociology, Psychic Factors and Applied Sociology was thorough."
Quotes
"Every implement or utensil, every mechanical device...is a triumph of mind over the physical forces of nature in ceaseless and aimless competition. All human institutions—religion, govenment, law, marriage, custom—together with innumerable other modes of regulating social, industrial and commercial life are, broadly viewed, only so many ways of meeting and checkmating the principle of competition as it manifests itself in society." —Lester Ward
"Thus far, social progress has in a certain awkward manner taken care of itself, but in the near future it will have to be cared for. To do this, and maintain the dynamic condition against all the hostile forces which thicken with every new advance, is the real problem of sociology considered as an applied science" —Lester Ward
"...it is not just my own belief but a well-established scientific fact that most change is for the worse: any change increases entropy (unavailable energy). Therefore, any change that produces no net positive good is invariably harmful. Progress, then, does not consist of destroying good things in the mere hope that the things that will replace them will be better (they will not be) but in retaining good things while adding more." —Gene Wolfe
Literature
- Burnham, John C. Lester Frank Ward in American thought. Washington, D.C., 1956.
- S. Chugerman, Lester F. Ward, The American Aristotle (1939, repr. 1965).
- Rafferty, Edward C. Apostle of Human Progress. Lester Frank Ward and American Political Thought, 1841/1913. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Oxford, 2003.
- Chapter 4 of Hofstadter, Richard. Social Darwinism in American Thought (original 1944, 1955; reprint Boston: Beacon Press, 1992).
- Chriss, James J. (2006): "The Place of Lester Ward among the Sociological Classics," Journal of Classical Sociology 6 (1): 5-21.
- Commager, Henry Steele; The American Mind; Chapter 10: Lester Ward and the Science of Society; Yale University Press; 1950.
- Becker, Ernest; Escape From Evil; Free Press, reissue edition; 1985.
- Finlay, Barbara; Lester Frank Ward as a Sociologist Of Gender: A New Look at His Sociological Work; Gender & Society, Vol. 13, No. 2, 251-265 (1999) http://gas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/2/251
- Ravitch, Diane; Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms; Simon & Schuster; Chapter one: The Educational Ladder http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/r/ravitch-back.html
- Mers, Adelheid; Fusion (graphic art, needs to be magnified) http://adelheidmers.org/aweb/fusion.pdf
- Rafferty, Edward C.; “The Right to the Use of the Earth:” Herbert Spencer, the Washington Intellectual Community, and American Conservation in the Late Nineteenth Century; http://www.historians.org/annual/2006/06program/precirculated/Session145_Rafferty.pdf
- Coser, Lewis; A History of Sociological Analysis, Basic Books, New York http://www.sociology.ccsu.edu/adair/american_trends_by_lewis_coser.htm
External links
- Short biography
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7321 - Lester Frank Ward Papers, 1882-1913, with Related Materials to Circa 1965.
- American Sociological Association - Lester Ward
- The Sunday Review; Towanda, Pennsylvania
- Google Book Search
- A Lester Ward web site
- Public Sociology website
- Mansfield professor makes documentary on Lester Frank Ward
Major works
Notice: only time-limited download at Geocities! If Geocities is unavailable try this site: Ward pdfs
- Guide to the Flora of Washington, D.C and Vicinity, 1881.
- (1883, 1897) Dynamic Sociology (2 vols.). Or Applied social science as based upon statical sociology and the less complex sciences. Volume I. (2,430 KB - PDF) - Volume II. (2,396 KB - PDF)
- Sketch of Paleo-Botany, 1885.
- Synopsis of the Flora of the Laramie Group, 1886.
- Types of the Laramie Flora, 1887.
- (1893, 1906) The Psychic Factors of Civilization.
- (1895-97) Contributions to Social Philosophy. (596 KB - PDF)
- (1898, reprint 1913) Outlines of Sociology. (609 KB - PDF)
- (1902) Contemporary Sociology. (333 KB - PDF)
- (1903) Pure Sociology. A Treatise on the Origin and Spontaneous Development of Society. (2,625 KB - PDF)
- (1905, with James Q. Dealey) A Text-Book of Sociology.
- (1906) Applied Sociology. A Treatise on the Conscious Improvement of Society by Society. (2,305 KB - PDF)
- (1913-18) Glimpses of the Cosmos. A Mental Autobiography. (6 vols.)
Credits
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