Abstract

René de la Tour du Pin once noted, about his own Aphorismes de politique sociale that it was not written to attract readers so much as to provoke thought. The same kind of remark might be made about this study. Though in some chapters the argument moves very smoothly and effortlessly, it is in others complicated, over-charged and somewhat repetitive. But it is a study that deals with a complicated and difficult subject, in a highly original fashion, and is well worth the effort it takes. It opens up many lines of thought and many avenues for further investigation, and this with admirable control of sources and balanced appraisal.