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Although social institutions are the proper
subject-matter of sociology, they have not been sufficiently
studied. Institutions are not mere collections of individuals
or social groups, they are also organizations oriented around
artifacts. The organizations are established by means of
charters, written or unwritten; while the artifacts are
the result of operations on materials. Charters provide
institutions with a potentially long life, and the artifacts
give them new, and often unforeseen, directions. Frankenstein's
monster is the archetype of the institution. Essentially
a productive unit, the institution has elements which interact;
men manufacture the artifacts, then the artifacts seriously
affect the men. Various types of institutions are examined
from this point of view, including abnormal cases and limiting
ideals. A last chapter deals with the problems of the social
control of institutions for both theoretical and practical
purposes.
Professor Feibleman is Head of the Department
of Philosophy in Tulane University.
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