Modern Historical and Social Philosophies

By: Pitirim A. Sorokin

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Synopsis: Even in normal times, cogitation about man’s destiny—on the whence and whither, the how and why, of a given society—is now and then carried on by at least a few thinkers or scholars. In times of serious crisis these problems suddenly assume exceptional importance, theoretical as well as practical; for thinkers as well as for plain folk. An enormous part of the population finds itself uprooted, ruined, mutilated, and annihilated by the crisis. People’s routine of life is entirely upset; their habitual adjustments are broken; and large groups of human beings are turned into a flotsam of displaced and disadjusted persons. Even the ordinary man in the street cannot help asking: How has all this come about? what does it all mean? who is responsible for it? what are its causes? is there any way out? where do we go from here? and what is going to happen to me and my family, my friends and my country? In a serious crisis these questions press still more intensely upon the thinkers, leaders, and scholars in a society. Many of them do not pay much attention to their sociocultural “shoes” until they begin to pinch. When, however, the “pinching” of the hardships of the crisis becomes unbearable, they are forced to begin to ponder on the how and why of the crisis and on all the other problems of a painful transitional situation.