Principia or Basis of Social Science (Classic Reprint)

A survey of communities that pursue a higher moral life through shared labor and simple living, paired with a practical look at how nations grow and divide.

This volume examines how intentional groups organize, what they believe, and what happens when people choose communitarian living. It also applies social science ideas to real-world questions about the size and coherence of nations, and how local divisions and governance affect the whole.

• Concrete portraits of communes that combine work, marriage or celibacy, leadership, and everyday rules.
• Discussion of how geography, locality, and population influence political boundaries and national cohesion.
• Examples from 19th-century America, including Icaria, Bethel and Aurora, and the Zoar Separatists, plus notes on the Oneida Community.
• A balanced view of public morality, representation, and the tensions between unity and regional autonomy.

Ideal for readers curious about social experiments, political philosophy, and the practical limits of government and community life.