<P> In the first half of the 20th century, statistics became a free - standing discipline of applied mathematics . Statistical methods were used confidently, for example in an increasingly statistical view of biology . </P> <P> The first thinkers to attempt to combine inquiry of the type they saw in Darwin with exploration of human relationships, which, evolutionary theory implied, would be based on selective forces, were Freud in Austria and William James in the United States . Freud's theory of the functioning of the mind, and James' work on experimental psychology would have enormous impact on those that followed . Freud, in particular, created a framework which would appeal not only to those studying psychology, but artists and writers as well . </P> <P> One of the most persuasive advocates for the view of scientific treatment of philosophy would be John Dewey (1859--1952). He began, as Marx did, in an attempt to weld Hegelian idealism and logic to experimental science, for example in his Psychology of 1887 . However, he abandoned Hegelian constructs . Influenced by both Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, he joined the movement in America called pragmatism . He then formulated his basic doctrine, enunciated in essays such as "The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy" (1910). </P> <P> This idea, based on his theory of how organisms respond, states that there are three phases to the process of inquiry: </P>

Historical factors that gave birth to social sciences in the west