Collective consciousness is a term coined in psychology by the French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) to refer to the shared beliefs and moral attitudes which operate as an unifying force within society. One might recommend collective conscience as a superior translation of Durkheim's concept, in part due to the busy association of the word "consciousness" with both Marxist and Freudian thought, but also as "a conscience for Durkheim is pre-eminently the organ of sentiments and representations; it is not the rational organ that the term consciousness would imply."
Read more about Collective Consciousness: Collective Consciousness in Durkheimian Social Theory, Other Uses of The Term
Famous quotes containing the word collective:
“One of the weaknesses in the cooperative is that it has never been sufficiently leavened by the imagination. This is a quick-silver faculty, and likely to be a cause of worry to any collective settlement.”
—Edward Dahlberg (1900–1977)