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BOOKS
THE TRIUMPH OF THE FACT
ABUNDANCE FOR WHAT? AND OTHER ESSAYS. By Dovid Riesmon.
Doubledoy. $6.50.
Sociology, one foot firmly planted on the grave of meta–
physics, the other tentatively poised on the elevator leading to the
summit of political power, is the master discipline of our time. Other
ages may have done more for philosophy, literature, or
art.
Even the
nineteenth century, if truth be told, was rather better at the business
of intellectual synthesis. But none can dispute our pre-eminence when
it comes to the social sciences. There is nothing in the past to match
the devoted labors of those trained researchers who have taught us how
to quantify, tabulate, and analyze our social environment: the people
inhabiting it, the customs inspiring them, and the assumptions by
which they live. It is true that the foundations were laid
in
an earlier
and darker age: Comte, Marx, Durkheim, Pareto, and Weber toiled and
wrought with simpler tools. But now that the scaffolding has been
removed, the structure that shines forth is unmistakeably a skyscraper.
Moreover, its spare lines bear witness that its architects are the peers
of those builders in steel and glass who have created our modem
cities.
If
the effect strikes a certain chill, it is undeniably impressive.
Its beauty is of the hygienic sort, but it is beauty nonetheless.
The work of David Riesman takes its place within this collective
composition, as a bridge or corridor; perhaps, guiding the student
toward the inner recesses of pure theorizing. The reader's path is eased
by the skill with which the author's style dissembles his learning, though
there are footnotes on almost every page to remind one that mastery
of complex subjects is not attained without hard work. Does the
question concern the mental stress involved in migration from country
to town? "Some Observations on Interviewing in a State Mental
Hospital" will indicate the source material which has served as the