The Science of Power

The Science of Power is a bold and impassioned final statement from sociologist Benjamin Kidd, written in the shadow of World War I. Rejecting the Enlightenment faith in reason, Kidd argues that Western civilization has collapsed under a "pagan retrogression" of materialism and militarism. He contends that knowledge and intellect have failed to guide humanity, and that true power arises not from reason, but from collective emotion-"the emotion of the ideal." Calling for a radical rebirth of society, Kidd champions social integration over individualism, elevates social heredity as civilization's true engine, and identifies women as the "psychic centre of power" in a new moral order. The Science of Power remains a provocative critique of progress and the soul of modernity, and a significant document of intellectual history.