Questions of the Day and of the Fray number 10: Pearson, Karl. 1920. The Science of Man: Its Needs and Its Prospects. Being the Presidential Address to Section H. of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (London: Cambridge University Press). 17 pp.
Summary
This address calls for a revolutionary expansion of Anthropology, defining it as the comprehensive “Science of Man”. Pearson argues that Anthropology must move beyond traditional studies of “bones and potsherds” and adopt a focus on utility to the State.
The new core of the science must include:
- Psychometry and Vigorimetry: The study of mental and functional characteristics, such as measuring resistance to fatigue, efficiency in tasks, and psychological makeup of races. He criticizes existing folk-psychology as purely descriptive and lacking quantitative analysis.
- Intra-State Utility: The anthropologist should apply their expertise domestically to problems of racial efficiency, working in primary schools, factories, prisons, and asylums to analyze societal wastage.
- New Technique: To solve the “splendid problems” of human evolution, the science requires the most rigorous quantitative methods and adequate mathematical analysis—the same technique used by physicists and astronomers—to attract the keenest minds.
Pearson concludes that if the science of man were appropriately cultivated, it would offer insights into man’s future evolution and help prevent the recurrence of crises like the recent war.
Questions of the Day and of the Fray number 10
Also: