is one of abstract content, instead of a principle of organization. On pages 53 and 55 the socius is respectively public opinion, the relationships existing between members of a family, and another person whom the child obeys. On page 24, all three conceptions get happily stated in sequence, (a) "He thinks of the other, the alter, as his socius, just as he thinks of himself as the other's socius; and the only thing that remains more or less stable, throughout the whole growth is the fact that there is (b) a growing sense of self which includes both terms, the ego and the alter. In short (c) the real self is the bipolar self, the social self, the socius"[1]
I should be glad to speak upon the more strictly psychological side of Mr. Baldwin's conception of the relation of thought-content and action, and of its specific application to the problem of the nature of desire, and also to say something about the psychology of imitation as such, and the psychology of the relation of habit and accommodation. But I have used an intolerable amount of space in following the concepts of the relations of the individual and the social through the various forms in which they appear, and must abstain. It would be a grateful task not only to acknowledge the suggestiveness, the thought-provoking and thought-compelling quality of Mr. Baldwin's book—that goes without saying—but to point out the richness of the details of many of the various discussions which have just been criticised as regards their coherency in fundamental concepts. More particularly should I like to refer to the value of the discussions of the social aids to invention (language, play, and art); to the clear and judicious summing up under the second head; to the original contribution to the theories of art which adds the factor of 'showing off, ' at once psychical and social, to the ordinary play-concept; to the admirable conception of the genius, so free both from the attempt to explain away his significance, by losing him in the social mass, and from the attempt on the other side to isolate him upon a mysterious non-social pedestal; to the discussion of the development of bashfulness and shame, etc. I should regret very much to have my failure to call attention to these matters interpreted as failure to recognize their positive value. But I chiefly desire to acknowledge the indebtedness, on the part of all interested in the relations of psychology and sociology, to Mr. Baldwin for his courage in attacking at first hand problems which most steer clear of, or simply repeat well-worn conventionalites concerning, and for the fresh, varied, and vigorous way in which he has opened up new problems and new points of view.
| John Dewey. |
| The University of Chicago.. |
- ↑ The letters interjected are my own, of course, (a) gives the individualistic view; (c) the social organization, or community view; (b) the identity of content view.
