Contribution from McDougall

William McDougall wrote: "The mind may be regarded as an organized system of mental or intentional forces, and, in the sense thus defined, every human society may properly be said to possess a collective mind. For the collective actions which constitute the history of such a society are conditioned by an organization only describable in mental terms, and which is not, however, included within the mind of any individual.

Society is rather constituted by a system of relationships between individual minds, which are the units that compose it. The actions of society are, or can be under certain circumstances, very different from the mere sum of the actions with which its various members could react to the situation in the absence of the system of relations that makes them a society.

In other words, as long as he thinks and acts as a member of a society, the thought and action of each man are very different from his thought and action as an isolated individual.

"Let us consider more closely what this proposition implies. But we must first note that if we recognize the existence of collective minds, the work of social psychology falls under three headings:

First: the study of the general principles of collective psychology, that is, the study of the general principles of collective thought, feeling and action, as they are executed by men in social groups.

Second: given the general principles of collective psychology, it remains to establish the study of the particularities of collective behavior and the mental life of certain societies.

Third: faced with the mental life of any society with its members socially and organically related to each other, social psychology has to describe how each new member who joins society is molded according to the traditional patterns of thinking, feeling and doing, until he or she becomes fit to play his or her role as a member of society and his or her influence contributes to the collective mental life."[3]

Contributions from other sociologists and psychologists

The notion was taken up by other sociologists and psychologists such as Maurice Halbwachs in 1939.[4] In his book La psychologie des foules (1895),[5] Gustave Le Bon defines the crowd with these terms: "A gathering of individuals of any nationality, profession or sex, whatever chance has brought them together." Le Bon maintains that when these individuals come together, «a collective soul is formed, undoubtedly transitory, but which presents very evident characteristics. The collectivity then becomes what, for lack of a better expression, I would call an organized crowd or, if you prefer, a psychological crowd. It forms a single being and is subject to the law of the mental unity of the crowd. ».

Contribution from McDougall

William McDougall wrote: "The mind may be regarded as an organized system of mental or intentional forces, and, in the sense thus defined, every human society may properly be said to possess a collective mind. For the collective actions which constitute the history of such a society are conditioned by an organization only describable in mental terms, and which is not, however, included within the mind of any individual.

Society is rather constituted by a system of relationships between individual minds, which are the units that compose it. The actions of society are, or can be under certain circumstances, very different from the mere sum of the actions with which its various members could react to the situation in the absence of the system of relations that makes them a society.

In other words, as long as he thinks and acts as a member of a society, the thought and action of each man are very different from his thought and action as an isolated individual.

"Let us consider more closely what this proposition implies. But we must first note that if we recognize the existence of collective minds, the work of social psychology falls under three headings:

First: the study of the general principles of collective psychology, that is, the study of the general principles of collective thought, feeling and action, as they are executed by men in social groups.

Second: given the general principles of collective psychology, it remains to establish the study of the particularities of collective behavior and the mental life of certain societies.

Third: faced with the mental life of any society with its members socially and organically related to each other, social psychology has to describe how each new member who joins society is molded according to the traditional patterns of thinking, feeling and doing, until he or she becomes fit to play his or her role as a member of society and his or her influence contributes to the collective mental life."[3]

Contributions from other sociologists and psychologists

The notion was taken up by other sociologists and psychologists such as Maurice Halbwachs in 1939.[4] In his book La psychologie des foules (1895),[5] Gustave Le Bon defines the crowd with these terms: "A gathering of individuals of any nationality, profession or sex, whatever chance has brought them together." Le Bon maintains that when these individuals come together, «a collective soul is formed, undoubtedly transitory, but which presents very evident characteristics. The collectivity then becomes what, for lack of a better expression, I would call an organized crowd or, if you prefer, a psychological crowd. It forms a single being and is subject to the law of the mental unity of the crowd. ».