A Single book that pretended to cover all aspects of human society would be an impertinence. The present work is more limited, for it addresses itself only to certain theoretical problems and principles. It intends to raise only those questions that concern social system as wholes. The questions raised fall into two classes: first that ask about the universal characteristics of all human society, and second, those that ask about the variations from one society to another. Among the most crucial questions in the first class are: How does human society differ from non-human society? What enables human social systems to operate as going concerns? What, for example, do they require for their existence, and what major structures do they evolve which enable them to meet these requirements? How are these structures related to each other in the total social scheme, and how is society as a system related to personality as a system? Among the most crucial questions of the second type—on social variation—are the following: What is the total range of variation with respect to the major elements of society? Why is the range in each case limited—what factors determine the limits? What are the major types of human society, and how strictly are the component institutions adapted to the particular type? How do social system change in time? The aim of the book is to give tentative theoretical answers to such central questions, and above all to try to integrate the answers into a system of thought on human society.

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