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Artificial Experiments on Society: Comte, G.C. Lewis and Mill
Author(s) -
Brown Robert
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/1467-6443.00031
Subject(s) - mill , subject (documents) , period (music) , sociology , order (exchange) , social life , epistemology , social science , aesthetics , history , philosophy , computer science , archaeology , finance , library science , economics
The success of the experimental physical sciences in mid‐Victorian Britain brought to prominence the question whether artificial social experiments—as distinct from those offered by the ordinary course of social life—were feasible. Influenced in part by Comte's writings, such authoritative figures as J.S. Mill and C.G. Lewis argued that social issues were not subject to experimental investigation. Their arguments are examined here in order to raise, for further discussion, the problem why social experimentation in general was so often firmly resisted during the period.