General Information On Collective Consciousness

By Sonya Riley


Collective consciousness is used when describing a set of ideas, moral attitudes and beliefs that are shared. It might also be written as the phrase collective conscience. These shared things act as an undivided source in different societies. The term was first used by a French sociologist named Emile Durkheim. He wrote about it in his 1893 book titled the Division of Labor in Society.

The French word that is conscience is compared to, and translated as, conscious or conscience in the language of English. It might also be defined as awareness or perception. There are people who use the term conscience as if there is no way to translate this technical term or foreign word in English. Usually it is not related to moral conscience but an understanding that is shared in regards t social norms. With the word collective, Durkheim clearly states no intention of reifying or hypostatizing. This word, to him, refers to a commonality to most, or a social fact.

Durkheim use this terminology frequently in the literature that he published, including four books: The Division of Labor in Society, Suicide, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, and Rules of Sociological Method. He believed that in primitive or traditional societies, which are based around tribal, family or clan relationships, there is a totemic religion that plays a major part in uniting the members. This is done through the development of a common consciousness. In such societies, the contents of consciousness of a person is largely shared with other members of a society. This is what creates a mechanical solidarity because of shared likeness.

This concept is used outside of the Durkheimian social theory. There are numerous forms of what may be known under this terminology found in modern societies that other sociologists have identified. This term is even used by parapsychologists.

Mary Kelsey is a lecturer of sociology who employed the term in the early 2000s. She used this word to describe people who exist in a social group and are aware of the shared circumstances and traits. Said awareness leads people to act as a community in order to have solidarity. Instead of living as an individual, people join forces to create groups that are dynamic and share resources and knowledge.

A new theory has been introduced that suggests character of consciousness is correlated to the type of mnemonic encoding used in specific groups. For example, cohesive groups with informal structures usually represent major facets of a society as episodic memories. In turn, this creates influence on collective behaviors and ideologies. It usually leads to exclusive ethos, atmosphere that is indulgent and powerful solidarity.

In every society, there are different groups, such as organizations, regions, family, nations, community. These units each have their own capacities to think, act, judge, conceptualize, reflect and reform. The varying behaviors identified between the groups will differ based on the varying consciousness. In other words, variations are thought to include practical meaning.

Collective consciousness was first introduced in an 1893 book written by Emile Durkheim. He was a French sociologist who used this term to reference shared ideas, beliefs and moral attitudes found among different societies. This particular concept has since been used by psychologists and sociologists in order to describe ideas and theories relative to the modern world.




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