The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Acquisitive Society, by R. H. Tawney

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Title: The Acquisitive Society

Author: R. H. Tawney

Release Date: September 16, 2010 [EBook #33741]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ACQUISITIVE SOCIETY ***

Produced by Al Haines

THE ACQUISITIVE SOCIETY

BY

R. H. TAWNEY

FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD; LATE MEMBER
OF THE COAL INDUSTRY COMMISSION

NEW YORK

HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY

HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE, INC.

PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. BY

THE QUINN & BODEN COMPANY

RAHWAY, N. J.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I INTRODUCTORY
II RIGHTS AND FUNCTIONS
III THE ACQUISITIVE SOCIETY
IV THE NEMESIS OF INDUSTRIALISM
V PROPERTY AND CREATIVE WORK
VI THE FUNCTIONAL SOCIETY
VII INDUSTRY AS A PROFESSION
VIII THE "VICIOUS CIRCLE"
IX THE CONDITION OF EFFICIENCY
X THE POSITION OF THE BRAIN WORKER
XI PORRO UNUM NECESSARIUM

_The author desires to express his acknowledgments to the Editor of
the_ Hibbert Journal _for permission to reprint an article which
appeared in it_.

{1}

THE ACQUISITIVE SOCIETY

I

INTRODUCTORY

It is a commonplace that the characteristic virtue of Englishmen is
their power of sustained practical activity, and their characteristic
vice a reluctance to test the quality of that activity by reference to
principles. They are incurious as to theory, take fundamentals for
granted, and are more interested in the state of the roads than in
their place on the map. And it might fairly be argued that in ordinary
times that combination of intellectual tameness with practical energy
is sufficiently serviceable to explain, if not to justify, the
equanimity with which its possessors bear the criticism of more
mentally adventurous nations. It is the mood of those who have made
their bargain with fate and are content to take what it offers without
re-opening the deal. It leaves the mind free to concentrate
undisturbed upon profitable activities, because it is not distracted by
a taste for unprofitable speculations. Mo